Goldfinger enlist Tony Hawk for live performance of ‘Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater’ song ‘Superman’

Hawk joined Goldfinger at their show in Anaheim, California last Saturday (January 14). When introduced to their crowd at the House Of Blues venue, the skateboarder said ‘Superman’ – which features on the soundtrack for various iterations of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater – “has defined our video game series for decades”.

Hawk then performed the song in full alongside Goldfinger frontman John Feldmann. Watch that below.

“It’s been an honour to finally join these guys for [‘Superman’]”, Hawk said at the end of the performance. ‘Superman’ first appeared on the tracklist of Goldfinger’s 1997 album ‘Hang-Ups’, but was popularised following its inclusion in the soundtrack for Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater two years later.

Since then, it’s appeared in 2012’s HD remaster of Pro Skater, as 2020’s full-scale remake.

Alongside Goldfinger, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater has been credited with enlivening the careers of Millencolin, Fu Manchu and Bad Religion, all of whom have contributed songs to the video game series’s soundtracks since 1999. More recently, the game’s 2020 edition featured the likes of Sublime, Less Than Jake, Skepta, Machine Gun Kelly and Alex Lahey.

Speaking of the soundtrack selection in a 2020 interview with NME, Pro Skater audio lead Justin Joyner explained that songs should “complement… gameplay”.

He continued: “Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater is kind of a fast-paced game in a lot of ways – you’re constantly moving around and doing tricks. You have to have music that has the right kind of rhythm to it, and the right kind of sound to really complement that gameplay.”  

Last year, Hawk performed a rendition of fellow Pro Skater soundtrack entry ‘Bloodstains’ alongside cover band The 900. Speaking of their joint performance of the Agent Orange original in an interview with NME last year, The 900 said the London show “was easily one of the best moments in our lives”.

Last August, Goldfinger enlisted Biffy Clyro frontman Simon Neil for a guest verse on an updated version of ‘Superman’, which featured on deluxe edition of the band’s 2020 LP ‘Never Look Back’.