Songs in The Key of Springfield is a night of ridiculousness, nostalgia bombs and singalongs to tunes you didn’t know you remembered, with all the best music from the golden age of The Simpsons brought to you live by Perth-born, Melbourne-based guitarist and singer Boadz. Due to popular demand, the show has just been moved to Rosemount Hotel’s Main Room, with more tickets now available, so get down there this Friday, June 10 to hear all your old favourites, from See My Vest to Can I Borrow A Feeling? to Monorail to Dr. Zaius and all the rest. BRAYDEN EDWARDS caught up with Boadz over a few Duffs to find out why it’s a must-see event for Simpsons fans.
How long has this show been in the works for and how does it feel to finally bring it to WA?
It started in 2018, and the first time I performed the two sets I ran out of tunes with 30 minutes still to go. Since then it’s grown and grown with every show. I get a lot of help from the audiences, who always let me know what songs I missed, and I’ll include them in the next show. At this point there are about 70 songs in two sets.
It is unbelievably exciting to bring this home to WA for the first time. My friends and family back home have never had a chance to see it, and I can’t wait to party with them all, along with all the biggest Simpsons nerds in Perth. It’s been a long time coming – due to COVID we’ve had to reschedule this gig six or seven times, and I give massive credit to the team at The Rosemount for being so flexible and keeping it on the books.
Where did the idea for this show come from and what was your first performance like?
One day I was bored and made a video of me playing See My Vest on my phone, and posted it on Facebook. It got way more attention than anything I’d done up until that point, about 50,000 views in a day. So I made another video playing Can I Borrow A Feeling?, and the same thing happened, so that gave me the idea of putting a whole show together of Simpsons tunes.
I got offered a gig for a Sunday afternoon at a pizza place in Melbourne, and was told there would be no one there and I could do whatever I want, so I used it as an opportunity to try the Simpsons idea. There were about 10 people in the audience and I think eight of which were my friends, and it was fun, but very silly and not something I imagined would go much further.
How has the show grown since then, and what has the response been like from audiences?
A little while after the pizza place gig, I got offered another gig that was a similar vibe, so I tried the idea again. This time maybe 20 people came, and some people had taken it upon themselves to dress up for the occasion. Right after that gig I was contacted by Bar Open in Fitzroy, who asked if I’d come do the gig on a Friday night. I told them I don’t think it’s a good idea, that very few people would come, and that for a peak night like Friday this isn’t really the right vibe.
But they were keen to try it, so we booked it in, and I have no idea why but Beat magazine decided to write an article about it and included the line “after it’s last sell-out run, Songs in The Key of Springfield is back!” and posted it on their Facebook, where it quickly got thousands of interactions. We ended up moving the gig into the big band room, and on the night it was totally insane, way over capacity, people shouting quotes and singing along to every word. Since then every show has had a great audience. It’s a super wholesome, nerdy, nostalgic vibe, with heaps of laughing and just indulging in being a massive Simpsons geek.
If you were forming a band of Simpsons characters who would be in it and why?
Well I think Lisa and Bleeding Gums Murphy would be a great start as my horn section. Then maybe get Otto in there to shred some guitar solos. Tito Puente might have to make a return to provide some percussion. I’m not sure who would play bass… maybe Hank Scorpio, just because he seems like a great hang. And out front with the smoothest voice in town has got to be Barney.
What have been your favourite cameos from musicians in The Simpsons?
The Michael Jackson cameo is a classic, of course.. and when Sting pours his heart out for the great cause of getting Timmy O’Toole out of that well. My favourite though might have to be Barry White – “I love the sexy slither of a lady snake.”
What are you looking forward to most about performing on the night?
Everything. After so many delays, so much build up, it’s just going to be an amazing night in every aspect. I’m so excited to host the dumbest and funnest sing-a-long in Australia, finally in my home town, and have mad catch ups with all my old friends and family.
