{"id":602712,"date":"2026-07-24T22:24:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T22:24:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/602712\/"},"modified":"2026-07-24T22:24:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T22:24:15","slug":"the-transformers-the-movie-40th-anniversary-concert-was-a-pure-shot-of-nostalgia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/602712\/","title":{"rendered":"The ‘Transformers: The Movie’ 40th Anniversary Concert Was a Pure Shot of Nostalgia"},"content":{"rendered":"

Have you ever watched your childhood memories<\/a> come to reality right in front of your eyes? Something you always dreamed of, and now, in this moment, it\u2019s happening, and you\u2019re witnessing it? That\u2019s what happened to me last night at the Transformers: The Movie<\/a> 40th Anniversary Celebration of Life Concert<\/a>.<\/p>\n

After a truly outrageous opening set by Britta Phillips, the original singing voice of Jem from Jem and the Holograms<\/a>, followed by a kick-ass, hilariously meta metal set by the G.I. Joe (or, more specifically, Dreadnoks<\/a>)-themed band Cold Slither, a band called Knights of Unicron took the stage. They assembled to cover songs from the iconic 1986 animated film, which, if you are unfamiliar, is chock-full of needle drops from the era. And so, the Knights and some special guests hit us with rocking renditions of \u201cThe Transformers Theme,\u201d \u201cInstruments of Destruction,\u201d and even Weird Al Yankovic\u2019s \u201cDare to Be Stupid.\u201d All bangers. Original composer Vince DiCola even came out to play some of the score from the movie, specifically, the music when Optimus Prime died. 40 years later and I still thought, \u201cToo soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then they brought out Stan Bush. You might not \u201cknow\u201d Stan Bush, but you know Stan Bush. Bush is probably most famous for his song \u201cThe Touch,\u201d which was famously used in Paul Thomas Anderson\u2019s 1997 film Boogie Nights, but originated in Transformers: The Movie. We\u2019re sure you\u2019ve heard it before. Click here to double-check<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"TransformersStan Bush and the Knights of Unicron at San Diego Comic-Con 2026 \u2013 io9 <\/p>\n

This was the moment I was waiting for. Having watched Transformers: The Movie a lot as a kid, songs like \u201cThe Touch\u201d just instantly bring me back to that time. I\u2019m on the couch, in my parents\u2019 house, watching Optimus Prime die, Hot Rod open the Matrix of Leadership, and Unicron devour planet after planet.<\/p>\n

Bush may be 73 years old, but he still rocks like he\u2019s 33 years old. He and the Knights went right into \u201cThe Touch,\u201d and the entire venue just exploded. People singing, cheering, dancing. All the while, clips from Transformers: The Movie were playing on a screen in the background. It was perfect.<\/p>\n

Then, somehow, things got taken up a notch. Some people (not me, but some people) forget that Bush has a second song in Transformers: The Movie. It\u2019s called \u201cDare,\u201d<\/a> and if you can believe it, it\u2019s even more upbeat and exciting than \u201cThe Touch.\u201d You just don\u2019t hear it as often. I would argue it\u2019s actually a better song, especially since it\u2019s tied to a very uplifting scene from earlier in the film. So, as Bush and the Knights dove into it, almost out of nowhere I felt tears rolling down my eyes. It was all happening. I was watching Transformers: The Movie, in reality, minus the robots, of course. I was six years old all over again, and I loved every minute of it.<\/p>\n

\"TransformersSebastian Bach and the Knights of Unicron at San Diego Comic-Con 2026 \u2013 io9 <\/p>\n

Now, at that point, the concert got a little weird. Sebastian Bach, best known by most as the lead singer of Skid Row and best known to me as Gil on Gilmore Girls, came on stage. Bach, who appears on the 40th anniversary album the show was promoting, sang an incredible rendition of \u201cNothing\u2019s Gonna Stand In Our Way.\u201d It\u2019s another great song from Transformers: The Movie, but nowhere near as good as Bush\u2019s songs. Then, being the rock star he is, Bach dazzled the crowd with a few of his own songs from the past. Which, admittedly, are freaking awesome and definitely from the time period of the movie. But I didn\u2019t come to Comic-Con for a Skid Row show. I came to a Transformers show. So as much fun as these last few songs were, it paled in comparison to what came before.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, the Transformers: The Movie 40th Anniversary Celebration of Life Concert was a once-in-a-lifetime experience I will truly never forget. Never in a million years did I think I\u2019d get to attend a concert where the band played basically the entire soundtrack to Transformers: The Movie, but I did. And it was epic.<\/p>\n

And while it doesn\u2019t seem likely the Knights of Unicron, Jem, and Cold Slither will be coming to a theater near you anytime soon, Transformers: The Movie is. It\u2019s getting a special 40th anniversary screening later this year, and you can get more info here<\/a>. Plus, you can buy or stream the Knights of Unicron covers of the original songs on The Transformers: The Movie: The Soundtrack: The Reformatted Edition, now available at this link right here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel<\/a>, Star Wars<\/a>, and Star Trek<\/a> releases, what\u2019s next for the DC Universe on film and TV<\/a>, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Have you ever watched your childhood memories come to reality right in front of your eyes? Something you…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":602713,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[263],"tags":[18,117,19,17,327,136854,54562,215005],"class_list":["post-602712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-eire","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-movies","tag-san-diego-comic-con","tag-transformers","tag-transformers-the-movie"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116977302082542013","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/602712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=602712"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/602712\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/602713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=602712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=602712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=602712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}