Early Means Two

What's a good show in a small venue without a local opening band to break the ice? These guys were that band, but you'd never know they weren't part of the tour officially without a little research.

I asked my friend Steph, the ska expert, what type of ska these guys would be considered. She said "punk/ska." With that said, on with the review.

These guys had a very good ska look complete with a couple of the members in shirts and ties and the lead singer complete with big hair and dorky sunglass glasses. The brass section consisted of a saxophone and a trumpet, and the music was well put together. They put on an excellent show, reminding me a lot of Reel Big Fish. They had similar vocals but a lot more guitar then the typical song.

Bum Ruckus

Steph informed me that these guys were also "punk/ska." The crowd didn't seem to react very well to them but the reaction was unfounded.

The brass section consisted of a trombone and trumpet, the typical elements of a band were also there including the lead singer who didn't seem to have the "ska look." He didn't really have the ska sound either. At first I didn't think I was going to like it very much as he was doing a lot of screaming.

As the show progressed the screaming turned into more rapping. I'm not much of a fan of rap music or even rap metal, so I probably wouldn't be impressed by that, but I was. There was just something about those vocals when accompanyed with the horns in the background that just sounded really cool.

By the end of this show I was very impressed. These guys put on a good show and I would definately go and see them again if I had another chance. If you wanna check out a really good ska band, I recommend these guys. Check them out at bumruckus.com.

High School Football Heroes unfortunately were unable to make this show.

Suburban Legends

I asked Steph what kind of ska these guys are and she said "you'd have a hard time finding what type of ska they are" and told me that its pretty much completely original.

This 8-piece band consisted of 4 people in the brass section alone. There were two members on both the trumpet and the trombone.

The music was very good and very energetic. The whole time that they were playing, almost everyone in the crowd was dancing and moving around.

They kept the crowd very involved in the show. At one point they had everyone throwing their pointer finger in the air and yelling "just say no" to their parents and bosses. For another song they had everyone put their hands in the air and pull them down one at a time and say "yes yes yes yes." Yet another song they had everyone put their arms around eachother and sway back and forth to the music.

There is one thing that makes a show good other than good music. That is the stage presence of the band. These guys were one of the best bands I've ever seen at putting on a great stage show. For most of the songs they had perfectly choreographed dance moves. It was just amazing to watch the horn players and lead singer dancing in step with each other. Besides that, the trumpet players would often toss their trumpets in the air, and continue to play after catching them. During one song, they were pretending their horns were swords as they did slow motion sword fighting with eachother.

Overall this band impressed me both with their musical talent and their ability to put on a show. I would certainly recommend that you check them out if you get the chance. They'll be on tour with Reel Big Fish this summer for awhile and on another tour later. Check it out at suburbanlegends.com

Review by: Ben