Review: T-Rextasy at The Journal Tyne Theatre
May 16 2009 by Neil McKay, The Journal
A CURSORY look at the gig list for many North East venues nowadays finds more tribute bands appearing than originals.
But T-Rextasy are widely accepted to be the top of the tributes after winning a BBC Battle of the Fantasy Bands competition.
And since Mr T Rex Marc Bolan died in a car crash 32 years ago – two weeks before his 30th birthday – T-Rextasy are as good as his fans are going to get to see.
A substantial minority of the audience at The Journal Tyne Theatre looked too young to remember the original, but bopped along enthusiastically to a string of hits.
T-Rextasy front man Danielz is faithful to the Bolan look, complete with corkscrew hair, a pink fur bolero and green flares. He is accompanied by guitarists Neil Cross and Paul Marks, and drummer John Skelton.
After a couple of warm-up tunes, including a minor Bolan classic One Inch Rock, T-Rextasy get the audience on its feet with Ride a White Swan, the song which catapulted T-Rex to fame in 1971.
The first set included Bolan hits Solid Gold Easy Action, Metal Guru, Jeepster and Life’s a Gas, from the album Electric Warrior.
Following a 20-minute break the second set was a reminder of just how many hits Bolan wrote, and how they have stood the test of time.
Twentieth Century Boy, I Love To Boogie, The Groover, Telegram Sam, Children of the Revolution, Get It On, the hits were belted out interspersed with some lesser known Bolan tracks such as Lean Love (again from Electric Warrior), New York City (a minor hit sung about a woman with a frog in her hand) and Baby Boomerang, which Danielz informed us was written about punk poetess Patti Smith.
The two-hour set, which was longer than the original T-Rex ever played, finished with Hot Love, including the immortal line “she’s faster than most and she lives on the coast” as an encore.
T-Rextasy allow their audience to wallow in unalloyed nostalgia but they are also excellent musicians.
As Danielz joked: “I know we want to be authentic, but there are limits. We do want to play in tune.”
He certainly hit the right notes with the Tyneside audience.
T-Rextasy’s Electric Boogie Tour comes to Durham’s Gala Theatre on August 12, Barnard Castle on August 31, and The Customs House in South Shields on October 10.
