The Hooligans Are Not of this Earth
 

As I head out to catch Johnny Wild, I was thinking about the Hooligans who I saw the other night. That was about the fourth time I've caught them in my roughly one year here so far. They're pretty darn breathtaking.

I've seen many tribute bands but nobody as good as the Hooligans. Just as Dylan's songwriting doesn't seem to be accomplished by a mere mortal, the Hooligans are also not of this earth. Their note-perfect renditions of the songs of our youth are simply jaw dropping.

Have you heard their War Pigs? I thought I was back at the Miami Beach Convention Center in 1972 seeing the Sabs do the real thing again.

Did some great Led Zeppelin and The Who covers.

Yeah, The Hooligans are really something. When they do Zeppelin, close your eyes and you’d swear you were listening to Robert Plant. Awesome.

The vocalist of the Hooligans Kurt Frohlich has 3 different gigs going. The Acoustic Edge, The Hooligans and the Spazmatics. He's playing somewhere in Florida just about every night.

Here's a Spazmatics video, which is more 80's new wave and pop.

Spazmatics performing in Sebastian, Florida - YouTube

https://scontent-mia3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...2c&oe=5FE85ED2

Speaking of local talent, Sarasota is not that far. This guy plays pubs, restaurants and just about anywhere in Sarasota and Bradenton and when he doesn't have a gig you'll find him on St. Armands Key in the circle. He has 624,000 followers on youtube and probably a 100 videos. He plays it solo but it sounds like a band and then other times he'll have real backup. Here's my favorite, outside at St. Armands Key by himself and someone requests Jimi Hendrix and he couldn't be more modest about this talent. This guy came here from the Ukraine about 15 years ago and found his own career and his pretty assistant is his girlfriend.

When Someone Requests a Jimi Hendrix Song - YouTube

https://scontent-mia3-2.xx.fbcdn.net...12&oe=5FE7C738

Without a doubt, the best band that plays on the squares. The Hooligans are the only band my wife and I will go out of our way to plan a night out for dinner and dancing when they play at either LSL or SS (we live just about right between both squares). The only other band I used to go out of my way to hear, unfortunately, no longer plays on the squares, He Said She Said. Todd Fulcher, the "He" in the band is an unbelievable guitar player, world class. Unfortunately, I think he rocked a little too much for the Mustang Sally and line dancing crowd? He always did a Jimmy Hendrix type guitar solo of our National Anthem, only better in my opinion. Pre-Covid, the last time I heard Hooligans, they played War Pigs, that brought back some serious memories of my youth. I couldn't believe I was hearing that song at LSL.

Yeah, I've seen the Spazmatics a couple of times too. I'm really picky about 80s music - I don't care for commercial new wave or pop. I was more a Clash, Cure, Gang of Four, Echo and the Bunnymen, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Damned, Ramones kind of guy. Digging deeper is where the true treasures always lie. Fans of movies and literature probably say the same thing.

Most people don’t listen to the words in the music it confuses them. Just as in The Who’s Goods Gone on My Generation album MONO

i LOVE their war pigs, & also never thought i'd hear it in the villages, LOL. i'm a huge sabbath fan, but actually prefer dio on vocals:coolsmiley:

Definitely the best band to ever play the squares.

Kurt also plays in Anti-Idol and with LA Guns.

Perhaps is cos they are British they are good......

Guess I'm the odd man out. I can't stand them. Too loud and too raucous. I prefer "easier" music......I like Second Slice, Cadillac Jack, Smokin Torpedoes.

Try Blonde Ambition band
 

We went to Lake Sumter and saw the “Blonde Ambition” band, wow high energy and loved every minute of it, they have 4 vocalists and tremendous musicology that will keep you enjoying the show, by far great band, I rate it with Rocky and the Rollers quality, their guitar/keyboards and bass player are amazing, their drummer WOW!!!!!!!!

that's ok. i like that easier stuff, too. don't feel odd man out, the bands you list i've seen & are very good. it's fun to listen to all kinds of things; Rat Pack to Rob Zombie! :icon_wink:

Dio over Ozzy?!? C'mon, that's blasphemy!

Ya, I'm constantly amazed at some of the songs blaring out from the town squares in the Villages of all places. I never thought it would happen either and I'm not complaining.

My first month or so here I thought I was only going to get Brown Eyed Girl, Brick House and Sweet Caroline every night.

Absolutely love (& miss) The Hooligans! Unfortunately not seeing them just yet, too much of a crowd at the squares for my comfort level right now.

[I am amazed at some of the talent in the squares. I personally love blonde ambition. I am a groupie but will definitely follow the hooligans and the spazmatics..which are coming this month!

The Hooligans will be at LSL today, but the weather won't be good. It's clear and no rain, but the temps will be 65 at 4pm and 55 at 8pm and with high pressure, you get clear, cool and windy, so winds will be coming soon.

I miss the Buzzcatz. They only played a few times here, but love that big band sound.

One of my favorites, too. Great talent.

We have seen the Johnny Wild show many times and the act gets old quickly after the first couple of times. Same stuff over and over, and Johnny boy is clearly a legend in his own mind. His die hard popularity puzzles me, not a go out of your way act in my honest opinion. The Hooligans on the other hand, bring it on!

Saw them tonight. Performed a great version of Baba O'Riley. Line dancers were confused.

They always seem confused, they don’t stop dancing during intermission?

i knooow! but if you can get to hear dio doing nib live, you'll get goosebumps!

They line dance during the public service announcement.

"Heaven & Hell" is a great Sabbath song, who was the singer on that one?

Black Sabbath - Heaven And Hell (Live) - YouTube

Make that 4 now !!! Just found out recently that Kurt was recruited by none other than LA Guns! I knew he'd get snapped up sooner or later because he's just so fricken talented. I chatted with Kurt recently and he told me he's on LA Gun's latest album and they were planning to tour right before Covid hit and now the tour's on hold. So what that means for the future of the Hooligans, I don't know. A Hooligans-less Villages is a sad thought.

Dio was and they became a completely different band, imo. Nothing like the first four Sabs masterpieces. Not even close.

i LOVE their war pigs!! i almost had a heart attack when i heard it being played--thought i was back in time again. instantly the hand salute goes up, lol, & i swear the band was laughing @ me..:icon_wink:

i'm one of the few that prefer dio, the range was incredible & if you got to see the black & blue tour, you'd know what i mean. on the ozzy side i REALLY like vol 4 best, -some real old fashioned heavy metal

Oh I am SO relieved. I thought this was gonna be another political post. I should have known better. Hooligans would have been a euphemism.

We agree, couldn't dance much to them. Not for us.

You might mean Cactus Jack & the Cadillacs who I've seen several times and they're not a whole lot different than the Hooligans, the only real difference is the Hooligans play all British Rock. Cactus Jack plays a lot of late 60's psych rock which is some of my favorites. This is off the Cactus Jack's website of some of the bands they play;

The Beatles, Beach Boys, Rolling Stones, Steppenwolf, Paul Revere and the Raiders, Lynyrd Skynyrd, ZZ Top, Eagles, Deep Purple, Huey Lewis and the News, Herman's Hermits, Tommy James and the Shondells, Eric Clapton, Tom Petty, Santana, Bachman Turner Overdrive, John Mellancamp, Glenn Frey, Creedence Clearwater Revival and David Bowie.

You must of been a regular on American Bandstand and Dick Clark asks how did you like the band?

Question for Moderator (or anyone): How do you edit the title of a thread? The Hooligans Are Not of this Earth is what I meant to say.

Go to your original post. Hit edit. Hit "Go Advanced" then edit the title. Not sure if there's a time limit set on this forum for how long the edit function is available though.

Kurt was the lead singer and guitarist of The L.A. Guns. While he is the leader of The Hooligans, I wouldn't describe him as the lead singer. The drummer does a most of the Who and Led Zeppelin vocals. He is also an incredible drummer. One of the best I've ever seen including Bonham, Baker and all the rest.

The band is fantastic however, I don't like their versions of some of the earlier British Invasion music. They turn The Beatles and The Stones into heavy metal music. It's not that they don't perform them well, I just prefer the original versions without the heavy drums and distorted guitars. Then again, I play a lot of early British Invasion and especially Beatles and am considered somewhat of an expert on The Beatles so I probably hear things a bot different than the average person.

Just for the record, he's a current member according to their website and a recent chat I had with Kurt as mentioned above, and it makes me wonder about the future of the Hooligans:

L.A. GUNS

I spoke with Kurt a few weeks ago and he told me that an upcoming L.A. Guns tour has been canceled.

A lot of these bands sort of semi exist. The members are out doing things like Kurt is doing here and when opportunities for tours or recordings come about, they get together. Steve Riley, the drummer for L.A Guns, grew up in my home town where I played drums in a local rock band. Steve has several projects going on including acting in movies.

Kurt told me that he lived in Las Vegas for fifteen years and he often played with Frank DiMino who was the lead singer with Angel. Frank is also from my home town and was the lead singer in that band that I played drums in for ten years.

I think that The Hooligans and Spazmatics will be around for a while. We won't see them for a bit when Kurt goes on tour. He lives in Oviedo now so I suspect that when those tours are over that he will be back playing in and around The Villages.

Very cool. So I see good old Revere gave birth to some talented people. I hear Freddy Cannon is from Revere too, which is also the home of the country's first public beach.

Uh oh. The Hooligans lost a couple of points. Now that I've seen them a bunch of times, I'm a little disappointed in the lack of variety in their setlists. For the most part, they seem to play the same songs over and over (albeit still impeccably).

It's kind of like paying $300 to see the Stones every few years only to hear them play the same ten songs they've been doing since the early '70s every time. But not exactly.

Hooligans and Stones in the same breath? Well there's that.