My second visit to King Tuts’s this year (I should go more often – it’s a cracking venue and there’s a gig on almost every night) after it hosting my first gig of 2026. Tonight promised to be fun, given the lineup, but first I had interview duties which meant I missed the start of Codename Colin‘s set.
The four piece were the perfect openers for tonight’s headliners, musically in the same sort of ballpark – but more importantly they were charismatic and bouncy, and very much insistent that the audience join in the early revelry. Not long after I made my way to the stage they were kicking into the first of two covers in their set, Britney Spears’ “Hit Me Baby”, and it went down really well. The sax on top of the up-tempo rhythms made this one a real kicker.
Their original material really kicks arse as well. Recent single “Hangover” is a belter and is only a small sample of their output. Codename Colin have been going for some time, with a couple of albums and EPs already available.
A second cover, this time “Just Can’t Get Enough” by Depeche Mode, really had the audience smiling before they rounded the set off with a couple more original tracks. One was dedicated to Snowy, a fallen band member, and I noticed that they’d hung his trumpet at the rear of the stage. A permanent and poignant reminder that he will always be a member of Codename Colin.
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The last time I saw Suburban Legends was back in 2015 when they were touring with Reel Big Fish. Funnily enough, it was our man Gary Cooper who was doing photos for us that night as well. The band took a touring hiatus shortly after that, though they have been back over in the meantime including a recent acoustic run which I unfortunately missed.
They wasted no time at all in getting the party started with “High Fives” being given to all in the front row by Vince and Aaron, and that was only the start of the audience interaction. This is a band that isn’t just here to play music, but to ensure everyone goes home with big smiles and sweaty armpits.
While many may have got into Suburban Legends via their covers (it’s well known that they play at Disneyland, hitting close to 1000 shows a year so they’re well-practiced), and a few made their way into the set. “You Got A Friend In Me” and “Ducktales” never sounded better, wrapped as they were in many of the band’s own songs. There were no real surprises in the set, mainly as their most recent album, Forever In The Friend Zone, is over ten years old so there isn’t any new material (yet!) to drop on folk.
We were urged to “Dance Dance Dance” and instricted not to be a motherfucker in the awesome “Just Be Happy”. A very similar sentiment to that proposed by Bowling For Soup in “Don’t Be A Dick” – and a possible coincidence given that the very first time I saw Suburban Legends was opening for the Texan act at the nearby and now defunct ABC. The musical and visual highlight was “Hey DJ”, though. Those poses, those moves, the choreography… it’s so simple but so well done that I could watch it a dozen times over.
As well as all the songs, we got to be fireworks (don’t ask… just attend the next show you can get to) and engage in a wall of love, with Vince and Aaron on the dancefloor with us as we stepped back and forth. I don’t think I’ve ever been to a Suburban Legends gig where at least one band member didn’t end up on the dancefloor with everyone!
Eleven years is a long time between Suburban Legends shows. Too long. Far too long. Here’s hoping they’re back on track again, and there’s a chance of some new tunes being laid down to give them an excuse to jump over the Atlantic again to see us!
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Photos by Gary Cooper
