Our Secret Origin
From 2025, we're focusing on giving young artists and musicians an opportunity to perform live, as we launch We Can Be Heroes... Just for One Day. We are an all-ages, not-for-profit, community event providing young musicians with an opportunity to perform live on stage. We are free for young people, with a small charge for adults to help help cover our costs. Grown-up volunteers are welcome!
All performers must be pre-booked by a parent or guardian using the above Google Form.
We want to give as many young people a chance to perform as possible. Places are limited and are offered on a first-come, first-served basis whilst maintaining a mix of acts and styles. We accept applications from beginners and veterans, solo performers and bands, and in any genre of music. We offer a stage with lighting, a professional sound engineer, and a range of equipment (you'll need your own guitars, drum sticks, backing tracks, etc., but please let us know what equipment you might need and we will do our best to accommodate).
If you're an adult with an interest in helping us to support young people making music, please consider volunteering with us. We need help with everything from photography to marketing to assisting on the day. Please contact us at wecanbeheroesmusic@gmail.com.
But how did we get here?
Once upon a time, on the streets of London…
Two music-lovers met in the twilight of the old millennium. Then, one fateful New Year's Eve, the destruction of a sound system left innocent partygoers in jeopardy. Fortunately, our dynamic duo had one of their ever-present mixtapes to hand, and the party was saved! This display of heroism led to the founding of London’s (arguably) best 80’s night: Prom Night.
Donning the identities of Heather and Duckie, the Prom Night DJs brought glamour – in the form of big shoulder pads and even bigger hair – to the nightlife of London and beyond. For more than a decade, Prom Night fought against the twin evils of blandness and mediocrity with its arsenal of super-fabulousness. Prom Night’s war attracted further allies: The Kennel Club, a night devoted to the big-haired rock of the 80s. The Lea Valley Yacht Club, playing the sophisticated sounds of yacht rock, AOR, and blue-eyed funk. And Bring the Noize, mixing 90s indie, rock and hip-hop. They played at some of the biggest venues in London and far beyond, and their efforts were acclaimed in such disparate sources as Time Out , The Guardian, Kerrang!, ITV, NME, The Evening Standard, and more. It was truly their golden age.
But, as is often the way with love, Heather and Duckie soon found themselves with their own kid sidekicks. The long nights began to take their toll on our heroes, but the battle was not yet over. Music was still a big and necessary part of their lives. From their secret headquarters, they saw kids' discos springing up everywhere, but none seemed to be founded on the twin pillars of big hair and big guitars. Where could they bring their own kids to rock out?
And so, in 2018, We Can Be Heroes was born! Now with the new identities of Theodora Goes Wild and DJ DadRock, and joined by their two kid sidekicks, our heroes have combined their love of 80s and 90s soundtracks (remember Pretty In Pink? Ghostbusters? Labyrinth? The Crow?) with a love of live music. We Can Be Heroes is a place where parents and kids could dance to classic rock, pop, indie and hip hop, watch live music, and generally rock out. It’s a whole afternoon of awesome.