London punk/rock band Medusa have unveiled a new concert film that has already drawn the attention of the British Film Institute and Sky Arts. The film, now streaming on YouTube, began as a bold idea: capture a raw live set on a boat floating down the River Thames. Shot with cinema cameras, the project aimed to create an independent concert movie that felt both immediate and cinematic.
What followed was more than three years of delays, setbacks, and creative problem-solving. On the eve of filming, the band’s sound engineer cancelled, forcing them to find a last-minute replacement who also had to haul an entire sound system onto the boat. Two of the four camera operators then overexposed their footage, leaving huge gaps in the film. To make up for it, Medusa staged extra shoots, including one in a nuclear bunker in London—normally a paintball site—and another at the Dublin Castle in Camden. But double bookings, missing footage, and technical issues meant the gaps kept growing.
The most unexpected solution came when the frontman and director created a marionette replica of himself. The puppet wore a hand-knit mohair jumper, a wig cut by local hairdressers, and custom boots. Even the guitar was built from scratch in Lincolnshire to match the one used on the boat. It took six months of detailed work to complete, but the result added a surreal twist to the film.
The finished 23-minute piece also features an animated sequence styled after Hanna-Barbera classics like The Flintstones and Scooby-Doo, showing the band tearing through London on the morning of the boat gig.
Now, the film has been described as unique in both style and scope, capturing not just Medusa’s noisy, defiant energy, but also a snapshot of London’s modern punk scene. The BFI is considering archiving it for cultural significance, while Sky Arts are reviewing it for broadcast.
Though proud of the final work, the band says this will be their last project of this scale. “It was way too big and went on way too long,” the director admits. From here, Medusa look forward to focusing on the music itself.
Watch the full film on YouTube:
