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Thursday 22 May 2008
10pm - 2am

As part of Week 5’s Retro Spectacular, we’re going to be delving back into the archives to resuscitate an event which quickly became a legend in its tragically-short lifetime. Bursting onto the scene in 2004 in a blaze of leather-clad glory, SPANDEX was a celebration of the finer (and more ridiculous) things in life – namely big-haired stadium rock and blistering power-ballads. That’s right, my friends. We’re talking Def Leppard, Spin Doctors, Queen, Fleetwood Mac, Boston, Alice Cooper and Meatloaf. We’re talking Foreigner, Journey, Roxette, Bryan Adams and Cutting Crew. We’re talking anyone that’s ever got up onstage and let rip with a Spinal Tap-esque cry of “HELLO, CLEVELAND!” while pointing at the camera and running their fingers through an effortlessly-kept mullet.

The line-up of contenders alone reads like the most ludicrous evening’s karaoke imaginable: Holding Out for a Hero, Take My Breath Away, China in Your Hand, Total Eclipse of the Heart… need we continue? Well, we will. Pour Some Sugar on Me, Since You’ve Been Gone, Money for Nothing, I Wanna Know What Love Is, Are You Gonna Go My Way, Ace of Spades… and that’s before you factor in the likes of I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing, the mighty Quo and Jon Bon Jovi caterwauling about how he’ll love you, “aaaaawwwwllllways”.

From AC/DC to Led Zeppelin, Tenacious D to Tina Turner, we’ll be jolting the fabulously-coiffeured corpse of stadium rock back to life to revel in its absurdity and sheer wealth of quality tunes one final time before the Cooler gets its marching orders. If you’ve ever squealed along to The Darkness or dusted off that air-guitar for a crack at the solo from The Boys Are Back in Town, this is the night to don a scraggy bandana and bust out your finest Wembley manoeuvres without fear of reproach or embarrassment.

What’s more, with Bill & Ted, Wayne’s World and Spinal Tap up on the big screen, Guitar Hero competitions all night and a bonus performance from Battle of the Bands-winning rawk revivalists HOT MAGENTA, this promises to demonstrate the precise reason why God gave rock & roll to you. Frankly, it’s the kind of evening’s entertainment that would make Jeremy Clarkson stomp his foot to the floor and shout “POWER!” while negotiating a series of hair-raising bends to the sound of Bachman Turner Overdrive.

- You know where you are? You’re in the jungle, baby!

Thursday 22nd May (Week 5)
10pm-2am
The Cooler
£3 NUS / £4 non-NUS