Maybe the only thing more astounding than how off-the-wall, talented, and, frankly, hilarious Jack Black is, is how quickly this year has gone by. Already, we’re coming up on Halloween, a presidential election, and another year altogether. Fortunately, this fact was not lost on Tenacious D, the Grammy award winning comedic, metal power duo featuring Black and Kyle Gass.
In lieu of their original plans to perform in the political swing states this fall on the “Purple Nurple Tour-Twisting Hard to the LEFT,” the band settled on a star-studded rendition of the classic “Time Warp” from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. As the purpose of the video is to encourage people to get out and vote, the project is cleverly titled “Rock-y the Vote.”
In typical Jack Black fashion, he plays both the characters of Riff Raff and Magenta—in full crop top and rhinestone regalia. A mustached Kyle Gass, dressed in a sort of modern suburban drag, covers Columbia’s spoken word verse. Meanwhile, the choruses feature a near shot for shot remake of the movie’s Transylvanians dancing along—this time with “VOTE” appearing in blue graffiti around the scene.
More notably, however, is that the lines: “It’s just a jump to the left” and “Put your hands on your hips” are delivered by a wide range of celebrity call ins. Among them are entertainers: Susan Sarandon, Jamie Lee Curtis, Reggie Watts, Ilana Glazer, George Takei, Eric André, Sarah Silverman, and John Waters; musicians: Phoebe Bridgers, Karen O, Peaches, and King Princess, and politicians: Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg.
Certainly, the clear intention of the band is to encourage blue votes in the upcoming election—with an obvious emphasis on jumping to the left and a subtle lyrical change to “and not a step to the right.” That being said, regardless of one’s political leanings, the video remains a fun, well performed homage to a Halloween classic, spearheaded by one of music’s most beloved and hilarious duos. A limited edition vinyl pressing of the performance will be made available on Tenacious D’s website with all proceeds going to Rock the Vote.
You’ve been invited to do the Time Warp again. Check out the star-studded video here!
