Saturday Night on the Terrace: Lords of the Trident w/ Thunderunderus and Beast Warrior

BEHOLD, the most METAL band on Earth! Or at least that is what Madison-based group Lords of the Trident claims. With an epicly extensive legend on the formation of the band, and musical arrangements that harken back to the 80s metal sound of bands like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, the question of their being the most metal band in the world at least warrants debate.

In all seriousness, the band is more a parody of itself than anything, and more comparable to Tenacious D (minus the wussy acoustic guitar) than Iron Maiden. I mean, come on. They have a song called “Rapeshore”.

But despite the ridiculousness of their image and the pyrotechnics and confetti cannons, Lords of the Trident is a talented group of individuals playing the music they love and having as much fun as they can on stage. Because of their talent and attitude, they actually have a strong core following from Madisonians. Their most recent release was funded by Kickstarter, and with only 108 backers, they more than tripled the amount of money they needed to fund the project. If that’s not fan dedication, I don’t know what is.

Lords of the Trident will be headlining Saturday, 8/10 at the Memorial Union Terrace. The first stop on their fall tour, fellow metal bands Thunderunderus and Beast Warrior will be providing support. The show starts at 9:00PM, and admission is FREE!

This Friday: IfIHadAHiFi and NORTHLESS at the Sett

Milwaukee comes to Madison as two Brew City bands, IfIHadAHiFi and NORTHLESS, will hit The Sett stage on Friday for a free show.

Chances are, if you’re a native of Wisconsin and a fan of music, you’ve heard of IfIHadAHiFi. The noise-rocking palidromophiles, sporting names like Dr. Awkward (drummer) and Mr. Alarm (bass/synth), are known as much for their raucous and unpredictable shows as for their swirling instrumentation and catchy choruses. In A.V. Club Milwaukee’s tribute to the band for their tenth anniversary, Kieth Brammer, former bassist of Wisconsin Area Music Industry Hall of Fame band Die Kruezen, accurately described the mayhem of IfIHadAHiFi’s set, saying, “it was the absolute insanity of their show that initially fixated me: Their total disregard for their instruments, personal safety, and the safety of anyone foolish enough to be close to the stage was riveting.”

IfIHadAHiFi was supposed to have released their fifth album by now, entitled Nada Surf EP +3, reciprocating in jest to a move Nada Surf made by calling their 2010 cover album If I Had A Hi-Fi. But that album hasn’t been released yet. Why? In a story that could only involve IfIHadAHiFi, they had to re-record a song and re-press the albums to avoid being sued by WWE over a copyright claim for use of a soundbyte of a bounty being placed on wrestler Ric Flair’s head. As if you don’t have enough evidence of their humor and uniqueness yet, check out the artwork for Nada Surf EP +3:

No, your eyes aren’t deceiving you- that is, indeed, a cat in a sailor cap on a surfboard.