Who is / was the best ska band you have ever seen perform live & why?

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Permalink Reply by Bunny on December 3, 2007 at 9:00am

Hi Dan!
Too hard to pick just one, and these are all so different, I'm going to give you my short list, and reasons why these bands made the short list -

Arrogant Sons of Bitches - saw 2x, including the reunion show in NYC. So much talent, personalities, and chaos packed onto one stage! Jeff Rosenstock is a fabulously talented songwriter, musician, and front man-whether he is singing, playing guitar, or playing the sax. Much intensity, and dynamics going on with all the band members. You could feel in the air that you were witnessing something very, very special.

Rancid - 1x, at The Avalon in Boston. An AMAZING show from start to finish. After the first number, Matt Freeman spied a little kid with spiked hair, maybe twelve years old or so, with his Dad, getting just crushed at the front of the crowd. The Dad looked like a deer in the headlights, trying to "protect" the kid in the pit. Freeman stopped playing as the band continued on, leaned down, and pulled the kid and his Dad onstage, where he found them a spot up on stage left to view the rest of the show from. It was such a sweet and spontaneous gesture, from one of the very best bass players I have ever seen. Tim and Lars both acted as front men, the music sounded incredible - and when they did a couple of the old op Ivy covers, the place just went nuts.

Big D and the Kids Table - have seen 3x, the 1/2 hour set last year at Warped in their home state of Mass was totally electric. Trying to pack as much into the set as they could, the pace hardly let you catch your breath as there was little pause between songs. At the top of their game.

The Flaming Tsunamis 5 or 6 times in Leigon Halls, Elks Clubs, etc. - local favorites who blur the invisible line between performers and audience. The last time I saw them, they were on the same floor level as the audience, and you could not tell where the band stopped and the audience began, it was all as one. They have a loyal following, it was like a big sing-along of energy.

Suburban Legeneds 3x - getting to be more pop than ska these days, but they have a terrific choreographed horn section that puts on a great showing.

The Dead Pets - 1x and would go again and again and again! I got to see this band by accident, they were in support of Flogging Molly at the 930 Club in Washington DC. I'd never heard of them, and neither had just about anybody else in the crowd - but you'd better believe we were all fans for life by the end of their set. They came out on stage with a trumpet and sax horn section and everybody started screaming for some ska. Front man Sweeney Todd is a maniac, they literally stole the show - we were so whipped into a frenzy by the time Flogging Molly came out we were exhausted. At one point Sweeney climbed up a mountain of amps to the balcony level - and damned if he didn't take a swan dive into the crowd! Half the band was doing stage dives and having nearly as much fun as the crowd. If you like your ska with a twist of punk, this is the band to see....


And last but not least, even though they are not a ska band, these guys are responsible for getting me into ska in the first place, totally inadvertently, and were bar far the best band I have ever seen live (besides Queen) - Green Day. My daughter dragged me to see Green Day twice on the American Idiot tour. Both shows were absolutely amazing. Billie Joe Armstrong is a born performer, singer, guitarist and front man. How did I end up finding ska via Green Day? A little cover number called "Knowledge". I liked it so much, when we got home I looked up the original band, which of course is Operation Ivy. From there my interest in ska and ska punk exploded, and I 'discovered" years and years of incredible music that I had missed while busy raising my kids (and stuck in 1990's FM formula radio land). I would give just about anything to be able to see Operation Ivy get back together and perform live, and probably sell my soul to be able to go back in the past to see them perform back in the day.

That's it - so far :)

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Permalink Reply by Rude City Riot on December 3, 2007 at 11:06am

Hi Bunny,

Thanks for your response, it is exactly what I was looking for. I am now aware of the bands you mentioned and why you like them. You write well and your blog entry is fun to read.

I have a little Green Day story for you .....from 1997 - 2001 I was the Sr. Production Manager for Western Canada for Universal Concerts and House of Blues Concerts Canada based out of Vancouver, BC. In that capacity, I was the local promoter rep and site manager for 4 festival concerts across W. Canada called "EdgeFest". Green Day was the main stage co-headliner along with Hole & Courtney Love.

It was hard not to like those guys, they seemed so sincere when they would promised me that they would not trash yet another golf cart. I had threatened not to give them one on this day but I relented because the 3 of them and their road manager came to me and promised to be good and they really needed the cart to get around the festival site, etc. So.......I gave them the keys...............bad idea...............they never actually returned the cart themselves. Security towed the cart backstage at 4 in the morning after the festival ended, they found it upside down in a ditch totally covered in mud. Sure, I was pissed off but it was pretty funny. The band's management did pay for the damages without delay (they somehow seemed to be used to forking out cash in the wake of the Bands daily activities). Every day as part of their stage show, Green Day would set their drum kit on fire and the smell of burning wood and plastic would linger around the stage for hours after their set. Every day after their set, their drum tech would strip off all the metal hardware of the burnt out drum kit and would attach the same to new drum shells that they carried with them just in time to burn up the kit at the next show.
They are a great little 3 piece band but a bad thing did happen during their set that I hold them responsible for.
As you can imagine, their was a huge mosh pit going on in front of the stage where Green Day was playing. The guitarist pulled a guy out of the crowd in front of the stage and had him strap on the guitar and play some basic chords along with the band. When the song ended, the band challenged the guy to stage dive back into the mosh pit which he did to the roar of the crowd. Unfortunately, the guy landed on the crowd barricade (hard metal fence) and injured himself so badly we had to evacuate him via helicopter to the local hospital. Turns out he was ok, no permanent damage, he and the band were lucky, it could have ended up much worse.

That was my Green Day story,

cheers,

Dan

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Permalink Reply by Steven Denney Shafer II on December 3, 2007 at 3:01pm

Skatalites show. Without a doubt.

It was so great.

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Permalink Reply by chad on December 4, 2007 at 2:34am

the aquabats- i've seen them four times! they have the most interesting stage show ever. you need to see them live.
rancid- i've seen them once. very excellent all around.
streetlight manifesto- once. insanely skilled musicians

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Permalink Reply by Rude City Riot on December 4, 2007 at 2:50am

Hey Steven,

What was it about the Skatalites show that knocked you out?

The stage show? The musicianship? The tunes? or just the pure class of the band itself?

DC

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Permalink Reply by Steven Denney Shafer II on December 4, 2007 at 5:00am

Just the fact that I love the music. I love the dancing. And I never expected they would play anywhere near me. I don't see much trad ska around here.

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Permalink Reply by Skibz McCullock on December 4, 2007 at 10:39am

In my nearly 200 shows I've been to (about half of which were ska or reggae related), I can easily narrow it down to four:

Firstly, the first three concerts I ever attended:

The Mighty Mighty BossToneS w/ Buck-O-Nine, Suburban Legends (5/23/2003) - My very first concert, my first exposure to the ska and punk subcultures. This was back when SL was a pretty decent ska-punk band and I remember them putting on a very wild performance with neatly choreographed dance movements. Buck-O-Nine was okay. The BossToneS, however, put on an incredibly professional performance, great sound, great energy, and they looked really damn cool on stage. Definitely the best first concert anyone could go to.

Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra w/ Let's Go Bowling, Chris Murray Combo (6/23/2004) - My very first exposure to an actual ska crowd, complete with funky Jamaican dancing. I remember being just blown away by the Chris Murray Combo, particularly over how great they sounded for just a three-piece acoustic set and how great Chris' voice is. TSPO were so incredibly energetic and were EXCELLENT musicians to boot. I think their performance really opened me up to traditional and instrumental Ska (since at that time, I was mainly a fan of third wave and ska-punk).

The Toasters w/ New Blood Revival, The Israelites, ????, ???? (10/3/2004) - I don't quite remember the experience of any of the opening bands, but I do remember dancing for the very first time at a ska show here. Ninety minutes straight for the entire Toasters set (I was even invited up on stage by Jack Ruby Jr.). And since this was long before I knew how to properly "skank", I must have looked like a complete idiot but I didn't care since I had so much damn fun. As far as the sound quality went, it was the Toasters...what more can I say?

And...

Bad Manners w/ Monkey, Police & Thieves, + others (6/17/2006) I can not remember the last time I had so much fun at a show. Bad Manners put on the best ska show I've ever seen: they sound GREAT live, Buster was very charismatic on stage, and the energy never seemed to dwindle, even during the encore. I loved every single song they played. And the best part was that since most of the crowd was underage, they, like me, weren't the best dancers, so I wasn't at all embarassed to start groovin' on the dance floor.

In addition, there are a number of bands that always put on a teriffic performance:

Fishbone - Another great high-energy band. Even when they play 2+ hour shows, they never get tiresome. However, all of the spoken-word poetry that Angelo tends to recite throughout each show is a little strange...

Mu330 - in addition to being my all-time favorite ska punk band, they put on a high-energy show, they talk with the audience, and they're really funny onstage. They're also a very fan-friendly band, which is always a plus.

Less Than Jake - They are GREAT with an audience. They play what the crowd wants to hear (which is mainly their older stuff), they have conversations with fans, they pull small children onstage to dance, they have really funny stage banter, and they also have confetti cannons! Wheeee!!!

Is that it? Eh, there's probably more, but I can't think right now.

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Permalink Reply by Your Face on December 4, 2007 at 9:57pm

My favorite by far would have to be Streetlight Manifesto. Those guys are incredibly talented. I've seen them twice now and I want to see them much more.

Also, I really enjoyed Reel Big Fish. I've seen them a couple times live and their live show is always entertaining.

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Permalink Reply by Andrew Lyons on December 5, 2007 at 12:54am

Deal's Gone Bad consistently puts on a great show.
Why?
Because Todd has such an amazing, soulful voice, and the band plays rich, full-bodied ska.

I saw Madness about 2 1/2 years ago at The Troubadour, a small venue in West Hollywood. It was everything I imagined and more. There's nothing like seeing a band you idolize, and I was only 5 feet from the stage.

I saw The Pietasters for thefirst time in 2002 and was so impressed with their musicianship that I immediately sought out their Yahoo Group. When I saw how shitty it was, I formed my own Pietasters Yahoo Group, which I run to this day.

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Permalink Reply by Rude City Riot on December 5, 2007 at 1:29am

I just want to jump back into this conversation for a minute to say thanks to everyone who has responded to this question and encourage others to describe their favorite live ska bands as well.

This is exactly what I was looking for.......a sense of who the top 5 - 10 touring ska bands are today in North America.

I now ask you all "Who wood make the top ten worldwide list?"


I am also wondering if there is a single one thread that runs thru all of them that we all recognize or are they truly too diverse for that analogy?

Sorry if it seems I am giving everyone a quiz or extra homework, so to speak, but I am curious about these things and I figure we are all experts on ska to various degrees so I ask you folks who know and love ska these questions. Cool with everyone I hope.

Cheers,
Dan
the old ska kid

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Permalink Reply by Bunny on December 5, 2007 at 10:01am

Hi Dan,
I think that the common thread for all of the best acts would be - a connection with the audience. You can be the most talented musician on Earth, but if you are lacking that certain charisma, it is just not the same. There's something missing.

Let me give an example. Last week we went to see Patent Pending, a ska/punk band from Long Island who we have seen about 10 times. Every one of their shows is a fun, fun time. (Check out their soon-to-be-a-classic Christmas song "She's Ho Ho Ho, Merry Chirstmas" - the video is an Absolutepunk.net exclusive-homemade and hysterically funny).

About two minutes into the first song, lead guitarist Joe Ragosta's amp blew. Borrowing an amp from one of the other bands playing earlier, they continued on for about another two minutes, before that amp blew as well. A lot of bands would have melted down at that point, but not these guys. Joe played air guitar for the entire set, and made light of a bad situation with his connection to the audience. Instead of it feeling like a disaster, the band made it feel like we were part of something special! They had us laughing, clapping, singing loud, stomping our feet - it was magical. We even conga-lined out of the venue, around the parking lot, behind the building -I don't think that kind of magic is something you can practice for, you either have it or you don't. When a band can get you out of your comfort zone and act silly and get really into it, it is an awesome thing.

It also makes me think of one of the times we saw Patent Pending at The Webster in Hartford. The Webster is a venue where there is no moshing, no crowd surfing, etc. and sometimes the bouncers get carried away with how rough they are. Patent Pending was unfamiliar with the venue, and encouraged a kid to surf, who was immediately manhandled by security and was about to get tossed. Joe stopped mid-song and intervened on the kids' behalf - while still maintaining respect for the venue staff. He could have incited a riot at that point, but the situation was handled in such a manner as to diffuse anything bad from happening on either side. We would go just about anywhere to see Patent Pending, because we know that no matter what, we are in for a great time. Great music, good people, good times.

Here's the other side of that type of situation - The Ataris. I really, really like The Ataris, and had the opportunity to also see them at The Webster. It was by far the weirdest show, the audience all just stood there. Nobody danced, nobody even hardly moved. The music was great, but after having been to so many ska shows where NOBODY ever stands still, it seemed a little off. Kris Roe spent an eternity tuning his guitar throughout the performance, and it just didn't click. I was very disappointed in the live set.

The ska shows we go to locally, there is always a connection between performers and the audience. Lots of times there is a blur instead of a wall, I don't know how to describe it, really. There is a point where everybody is as one, not a band and and audience, but a whole without separation that makes things special. It's one of the things I love best about ska. I have no musical talent whatsoever, but ska makes me feel like an important part of the performance, a part of things. So hard to describe the feeling...

Hope this is what you were looking for, at the very least, it's sincere :)
Best wishes,
Lisa

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Permalink Reply by Rude City Riot on December 5, 2007 at 11:55am

Wow! Thanx Bunny,

That is exactly what I was looking for, trying to put our finger on what it is about ska that speaks to us so strongly. You write wonderfully, I now feel that I would know what to expect from Patent Pending. I will make a point of catching them if I am ever in the same city at the same time.

A phrase that I have heard and associate strongly with ska is:

In ska, it's not what you play, it is HOW you play it. -------For me that really rings true.

It seems that in ska, we cover a lot of tunes written and originally performed and recorded by other artists with no real negative effect BECAUSE it is all in the spirit of how we play these songs.

Thanks again for participating in this discussion.

Cheers,

Dan
the old ska kid

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