Murdoch’s Crazy Eyes bring their own musical twists to Horsham’s Big Gig 2022

Now in its fifth year, The Big Gig will be taking place at Horsham Sports Club on Saturday, June 18 from 1pm through to 10.30pm, a family music festival promising “brilliant tribute bands, family entertainment and an array of street food and beverages for the best upbeat and fun-filled festival experience.”

Kicking off The Big Gig at 1.30pm is Mused, a Muse tribute. Then comes Murdoch’s Crazy Eyes, with a mix of funk, soul, punk and rock – a band bringing together members from Henfield, Haywards Heath, Worthing and Hove

Keyboard player Rob Pope said: “We formed 16 years ago when we weren't even quite graduated as students. We met at Northbrook College in Worthing as it was then known and we were all doing music performance. We were put together as a project to represent the college at an awards ceremony in Brighton. We were then told we had got a week to put together a 40 minute set of material, and we did it.

"We had the deadline and we put it all together. The lecturers chose their favourite musicians. We were like the creme de la creme of the college! We formed the band and I remember our lecturer said to us ‘do you realise you could make some money out of this?’ From there we started doing a few pubs in Worthing and then further afield and about a year or maybe six months into it we started getting private bookings to weddings or corporate events and it then just got bigger and bigger. We even ended up playing at Twickenham at the World Cup semi final.”

As for the name: “We needed a name very quickly and our lead singer was watching an episode of the A Team and there was something about a character called Mad-Eye Murdoch or something like that. And we were thinking about that and we thought that Murdoch’s Crazy Eyes rolled off the tongue better and then we realised we hadn't even spelt it right, that the Murdock in the show was Murdock with a k not a ch!”

As for the music: “We are a very high energy eclectic party band. We play all covers but we like to put our own twist on everything that we play. Obviously you will know exactly what it is that we're playing but we like to think that we are showing our own creative side as well when we perform. We have got a lead singer who has got an amazing range and do can female vocals as well as male vocals.”

The Big Gig 2022 supports St Catherine’s Hospice and Chestnut Tree House in addition to providing funds for improved facilities at Horsham Sports Club for the benefit of the entire community.

This is a family day and festival goers may bring a picnic, soft drinks and set up a space or gazebo with friends and family to chill back and relax in comfort.

Tickets on https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-big-gig-2022-horsham-tribute-music-festival-tickets-81493881393