The Toasters ft. Coolie Ranx

This past Saturday, the Ska is Dead! tour found itself, once again, at Showcase Live! in Foxboro, MA. For those familiar with the Boston area, we who live in Boston find this annoyingly out of the way. I’m spoiled, as I can bike to the Middle East in about 10 minutes. So driving 45 minutes to a show is pretty much something I moved to Boston in order to not have to do anymore.

But I digress.

The line-up this year was:

• The Boston Jolly Pirates
• The Brunt of It
• Hub City Stompers
• Deal’s Gone Bad
• Pilfers
• Voodoo Glow Skulls
• The Toasters
• Mustard Plug

Solid line-up, and a person into the ska scene would probably find little to complain about here. I didn’t, anyway.

The BJP were up first; I’m not very familiar with their material, though I’ve seen them live a few times. For some reason, this year all the sets seemed particularly short. The Pirates blew through their set, but being the first band, there wasn’t much dancing or anything yet. Still, another solid performance from these guys.

I was equally unfamiliar with The Brunt of It and Hub City Stompers. Brunt were good, though I wasn’t inspired to go buy their merch. HCS had a rather confrontational vibe to their music, and their on-stage persona, which I appreciated. A little antagonism toward the crowd isn’t always a bad thing.

Deal’s Gone Bad play what they call “pub rocksteady.” Sounds about right. I’d heard them on comps and such things, and after this show, I definitely need to check out their albums. They remind me of the sort of material the Pietasters are putting out these days.

The Voodoo Glow Skulls are, to borrow a meme, one of the consistently great live acts out there. I’ve caught them a few times before, and their energy and tight musicianship is fantastic. Tonight was no different. I hope that some people in the crowd got turned onto their music if they hadn’t  been into them already. They busted out gems like “El Coo Cooi” and “Charlie Brown,” as well as newer cuts like “DD Don’t Like Ska.” I would have liked to hear “The Band Geek Mafia” or “Voodoo Anthem,” but you can’t win ‘em all.

I love the Pilfers. They’re not for everyone, sure, but I think they’re great, and them being back together, even for as few shows as they do, is awesome. They were great here, kicking out songs like “What’s New (Here We Go Again),” “Hypnotized,” “Agua,” “Yakuza,” and others. Crowd participation was lacking at some points; the kids seemed to have a hard time following instructions during “Show No Fear.”

I’ll take this moment to address that the crowd seemed to lack interest for much of the night, at least from where I was standing- against the stage for 6 of the 8 bands. This was a marked difference from last year’s Ska is Dead show, at the same venue. I don’t know what it was, but there were a fair amount of people who stood near the stage, center of the crowd, simply watching the band with their arms crossed. Odd, and disheartening. Ska shows, if nowhere else, are places to just let it go and dance! Mustard Plug would even tell you how later that night. (“Skank By Numbers”)

Anyway, the Toasters followed the Pilfers. Bucket is looking pretty old these days, but that voice has still got it. He did the requisite “Two-Tone Army” and “Don’t Let the Bastards Grind You Down,” as well as “East Side Beat.” They brought out Coolie from Pilfers (and ex-Toasters) to song on “Run, Rudy, Run” and “Dub 56,” which was really cool.

Finally, Mustard Plug closed things out with their set. They played the hits, along with more unusual cuts like “Mendoza.” Another consistently fun band live, they were great. Dave even knew all the words to “Skank By Numbers,” which isn’t always the case; the “We’d like to stop and thank our roots…” part seems to throw him, in my experience. No matter, the crowd all knows the song, and can sing it for him.

All in all, Skanksgiving 2 was a whole lot of fun. This is a great tour, and you should check it if it comes your way. I would say I enjoyed last year’s more, but still, no regrets at all. Definitely worth the trek.

Last note: While at the show, I met Christa, who is a graphic designer here in Boston, and has a blog here. Some really great stuff there, and she’s done design work for Mark Lind & the Unloved, Far From Finished, and more. I highly encourage you to check it out!

Update: I got a few crappy pictures on my phone. You can check them out here.