“HELLO SCOTLAND, THE ONLY F@%KING SANE NATION LEFT ON EARTH. YOU UP FOR IT?” And cue uproarious thunder cries from the crowd who'd packed into Edinburgh's La Belle Angele last night to get a glimpse of TV comedy wasteman, Super Hans.
The meddling narcissist - as played by Matt King in British sitcom, Peep Show – didn't peddle enough dread to make it as a musician on the show, but the self-destructive character lived on this summer because “choonz and jokes innit.” Those quoted words are lifted from the Twitter announcement he made back in March that made his superstar DJ mission known. Festivals, Ibiza and small pubs were where the substance-hoovering, mad-eyed lunatic planned to smash it all out. We're pretty positive that Ibiza was bypassed, so Scotland – Donald Trump's biggest fanboy nation – is the Super Hans sample spot.
Before it was cranked up to 11, he empathised with the student-majority crowd in their skint states of affairs and chucked them handfuls of cornflakes – let's 'ave it on the corn, old boy. “COME ON MOTHERF@%CKERS, LET'S SEE YOU DANCING.” Normally DJs who hog the mic in attempts to ramp up enthusiasm make me want to reach for a stack of loose bricks, but from a fictional cult hero who barely has a handle on life, I'll take it.
Let's talk about the music, because curiosity was the main reason myself and a big portion of the crowd were there. Last month he gave us a clue in a Guardian interview: “my set is not all gabba, techno and shitty garage. Gig by gig and town by town, Super Hans Alive is quietly going about the serious business of blowing people's heads off.” David Bowie's head-thrower, 'Let's Dance', was disseminated early doors and disco was given a boost before the '80s got a slamming with New Order's classic, 'Blue Monday'. Tunes aside, you wanted maximum crowd interaction with Super Hans because he spews comical content. Out comes a bass guitar and he's telling us, “F@%K IT, THE WORLD'S ENDING, LET'S HAVE A PARTY.” Then on reminding us that he is in fact a real musician, he cranked out the intro to The Stone Roses' classic, 'Fools Gold'. Was it well executed? Nah, not really, but that's got to be in keeping with his character's musical limitations.
Yet more classics from the dance music sphere fuelled the sweat pit, from Felix's 'Don't You Want Me' to Lil Louis' 'French Kiss'. No one was there to wax lyrical about a set that seamlessly transitioned between decades and genres, so who's grumbling when The Rolling Stones' 'Under My Thumb' was silenced by Josh Wink's 'Higher State Of Consciousness'? No one.
With a nonchalant “see you later” he was offski, but he was predictably dragged back on by the “ONE MORE TUNE” chants. He gave a mention to the dread factor and promised that it was “about to get horrible”. Tidy. After that he boosted and about 50% were right behind him out the door – prime example of a mass exodus.
Super Hans' UK tour is a pure novelty for lovers of the Peep Show. Get digging into the cult Channel 4 series for some quality comedy banter and check this lunatic out for the craic.
WORDS | Aimee Lawrence
