Tenacious D & Friends Share "Time Warp" Cover In Lieu of Canceled The Purple Nurple Tour... Twisting Hard to The Left! (Kung Fu Nation)
Everyone's favorite Hard Rock/Comedy troupe Tenacious D have returned with a politically-minded cover of "Time Warp" from 1975 cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Tenacious D is, of course, the brainchild of actor/part-time musician Jack Black and his like-minded guitar-wielding cohort Kyle Gass. Since initially forming way back in 1994, Tenacious D has released four full-length albums: Tenacious D (2001,) The Pick of Destiny (2006,) Rize of The Fenix (2012,) and mostly recently, Post-Apocalypto (2018) all with Dave Grohl behind the drumkit. Plus, the self-proclaimed "Greatest Band In The World" even released a feature-length film, Tenacious D In The Pick of Destiny, as well as an album companion Post-Apocalypto: The Graphic Novel AND an animated web-series. Earlier this year, Ten D effectively announced The Purple Nurple Tour... Twisting Hard to The Left! which would consist of 10 shows taking place in Swing States from 9/25-10/9. Although, once COVID-19 restictions and social distancing standards went into place, most live events, including The Purple Nurple Tour... were indefinitely canceled.
So, instead, Jack Black & Kyle Gass have recruited a slew of famous friends and recognizable faces to help encourage as-yet-undecided voters to "jump to The Left." For the accompanying fittingly zany "Time Warp" music video, Jack Black sports a bald cap and a scantily clad outfit, seemingly dressed as Riff Raff from Rocky Horror, while Kyle Gass wears what appears to be a cheaply-made "Karen" Halloween costume as Columbia. Throughout Tenacious D's ROCK-Y THE VOTE fiasco we see cameos from Eric Andre, Phoebe Bridgers, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ilana Glazer, John Heilemann, Karen O, King Princess, Ezra Miller, Peaches, Michael Peña, Susan Sarandon, Sarah Silverman, George Takei, Senator Elizabeth Warren, John Waters, and Reggie Watts. Musically, "Time Warp" features, in addition to both Black & Gass, John Spiker providing producer, mixer, bass, additional piano and background vocal duties, electric guitarist John Konesky, drummer Scott Seiver, pianist Will Herrington, and Jessie Payo supplying background vocals.
Keeping in line with the Rocky Horror theme, the original cast of Rocky Horror Picture Show will reunite for a special Halloween livestream benefiting Wisconsin Democrats. It will feature Dr. Frank N. Furter himself, Tim Curry, Barry Bostick, and Nell Campbell, as wellas appearances from Lance Bass, Rosario Dawson, Jason George, Seth Green, Jason Alexander, and David Arquette. Updated renditions of the soundtrack's iconic songs will come from The Dresden Dolls, Miss Peppermint, Eiza Gonzalez, Josh Gad, Ben Barnes, Jenna Ushkowitz, Rachel Bloom, Karen Olivo, Marissa Jaret Winkour, Madison Uphoff, Kalen Chase, and Rumer Willis. Tickets for the Halloween Night events are still available to purchase either through a donation or a pledge to volunteer. Pre-orders for a special "Rock-y The Vote" 7-inch version of Tenacious D's "Time Warp" are currently available directly from Kung Fu. Nation's web-store. However, it specifies "Time Warp" 7-inch pre-orders aren't expected to ship until the end of February 2021.
