The Swing Punks Big Band play a reworking of classic punk songs in Richmond.

UPDATE 5st OCT-The Concert is sold out ...there maybe a few returns... contact info@squirky.com

In a complete one off on the 40th Anniversary of the birth of punk rock, Chris Bemand directs the Swing Punks Big Band in a unique concert to demonstrate that, surprisingly, the songs have an underlying brilliance and a timeless resonance. Take away the spitting, the sneering the thrashy guitars and underneath you will find a wealth of beautifully crafted songs that could have been hits in any era… from Mozart to Sinatra. Composer and musician Chris Bemand has been working with the Swing Punks Big Band over the last two years to put the set together and, whilst doing it, he has given the classic punk songs of the ‘70’s a completely new lease of life. Far from the spitting, safety pin mosh pit style, the new arrangements are jazzy and funky and fun.

The show includes tracks by: The Sex Pistols, The Stranglers, The Damned, The Ruts, The Ramones, Blondie, X-Ray Spex, The Buzzcocks and The Undertones.

The Swing Punks are a twenty piece big band drawn from some of London’s finest jazz musicians. The band consists of four trombones, four trumpets, five saxophones, drums, bass, guitar, piano and three singers and is led by trombonist / singer James Lawrence.

Producer/Composer Chris Bemand, who started his professional music career at the age of 7, as a cathedral chorister, remembers the original punk songs as a child – and if he’s honest, he preferred them to the Bach and Purcell that he was performing on a daily basis. “But it’s been an amazing journey restructuring these songs of my youth,” he says. “Once you get through the nastiness, you find great tunes and great lyrics. I am really proud of what we've created with the Big Band and I can't wait to share it with the rest of the world.”

We wonder what Sid Vicious would have made of it all.

https://www.facebook.com/swingpunks

Bar and Snacks

Doors open 7-15 pm