Apocalypso!
apoc blurb
about us
Apocalypso is Tucson's steel band for any occasion.
Collectively, the group represents over 17,643 days of quality pan playing experience, with repertoire which extends from standard socas and calypsos to reggae, popular songs and beyond.
Apocalypso caters to any entertainment need. The tropical sounds of steel pans are sure to brighten any event with a unique island feel.
random quote
Robert on pizza toppings
Ham is the butt... Bacon is entirely different.
more about apoc
what's all this, then?
Apocalypso is a steel band in Tucson, AZ. No amplification, no synthesizer, no non-percussion instruments. We don't sing, and generally, you really wouldn't want us to.
Apoc is four pannists and a drummer, and our passion is bringing the sweet sound of pan to anyone who'll listen. If you'll pay us for the privilege, hey, even better.
Through travel to Trinidad and the abundance of pan experiences available in Arizona, we've each had the honor of playing with some of the pan world's greatest: Ray Holman, Len "Boogsie" Sharpe, Ken "Professor" Philmore, Liam Teague, Andy Narell, Cliff Alexis, and Jeff Narell.
We've had the honor of having Ray play with us at recent gigs.
Playing as a group for audiences is but one of our joys. Through Pankids, we work as educators, coaches, and mentors, helping teach the next generation of pannists.
Welcome to our website. Keep an eye on things, as we do have some fun random things going on. Come back and refresh often!
cd release
hear it, love it, buy two
Apocalypso's first CD, Miscalculated Dance Moves, was officially released on December 10, 2004 (so it wasn't a Tuesday... we tossed tradition on its ear and shout 'ha HA!').
Catch us at a gig and pick one up! Enjoy the fruits of our months of labor, years of dreaming, and enjoyably torturous nights upon nights of being "almost finished".
If you would like to purchase a CD and can't make one of our live shows, please visit our page at CD Baby.
apoc. it's dot pan.
seriously
It really is frightening how similar Apoc is to Homestarrunner. You can generally count on all sorts of endlessly entertaining random mixed with biting humor. Then there are always the occasional light switch raves. And we all have at least two cats, which really doesn't have anything to do with Homestar at all. But Don really does look like Homestar. A lot. Seriously. Well, then there's the part where we're not the same because we're not flash cartoons. And don't have the massive following that Homestar does. But give us time.
musical tendencies
they might be a cover band
We don't really know how it happened, but we have a deeply passionate need to forge ourselves a place in history as The Official Unofficial They Might Be Giants Cover Steel Band. Did they ask for a cover steel band? Well, no, but that's the unofficial part.
I'm proud to say I may have started it back in '97 with my rogue arrangements at UA of "Birdhouse In Your Soul" and "Particle Man", but I'm prouder still to say that we've since gotten a solid four or five more TMBG tunes in our book and even have one on the CD (Thom's arrangement of "Man, It's So Loud In Here").
Someday, we'll find ourselves in a room near a room that contains people who know the Johns, and perhaps we might earn the suggestion of approval for our wacky obsession. Or we could end up out of juice. Like a moose denied.