Some friends and I headed down to The Castle Theater in Bloomington a few weeks ago to catch Reel Big Fish along with Suburban Legends and Beebs and Her Money Makers.
Probably the most disappointing part of the show was not the bands, the sound crews, nor the acoustics of the venue. It was the age restriction.
I use 'age restriction' loosely because this show was technically an all ages show. What was disappointing about it was that you had to be 21 in order to enter the first floor. Although I'm 21, my friend who was with us was only 20 so we were forced to go on the second floor. This was particularly infuriating as there was no mention of this rule on the ticket or anyplace else as far as I could tell. It didn't make any sense either seeing that there was a bar on the second floor. If they wanted such a rule in place, they should have made it so that you had to be 21 in order to get on the second floor and buy drinks. I was thoroughly disappointed in this policy and you will find me hard-pressed to ever set foot in The Castle Theater again.
Then again, why should I care? I'm 21 and my friend who was 20 will be 21 this month. However, if I were part of the under 21 crowd, I would be hesitant of any performance at The Castle Theater due to its house rules.
As far as the concert went, it was pretty good. Beebs and Her Money Makers was the first band to perform and they were a solid ska act. I didn't pay that close attention to their show but there really wasn't anything to dislike about the group. They came in with their horns and played some ska. That's really about it.
Suburban Legends was up next and, from my perspective, they stole the show. In my humble opinion, I think they made Reel Big Fish look like a bunch of chumps. Granted, this is pretty hard to do considering that Reel Big Fish is a pretty good live act. But I tell you what, Suburban Legends really brings the party to you. It's not a concert. It's a party. They play music and they party while they're doing it. Sword fighting with brass instruments while covering Disney songs is just the beginning of what these guys do live. I wish I could have been in the pit for this band because I know that I missed out on something fantastic. If you ever get a chance to see Suburban Legends, you should take it. I don't care if you're a ska fan or not. This band is a must see!
After Suburban Legends, Reel Big Fish came on as what felt like a :"cool-down" band. I wouldn't count Reel Big Fish out yet though. Just because Suburban Legends stole the show doesn't mean that Reel Big Fish got blown out of the place.
But, now that I think about it, there was one act I forgot to mention. Before Beebs and Her Money Makers came on there was a man with an acoustic guitar. He also happened to be the drummer of Reel Big Fish. His act was okay. Based on my previous unintentional omission however, I would have to say that his set was particularly unmemorable. It wasn't bad. It just wasn't fantastic.
Anyways, Reel Big Fish still did a very good show. They played what you would expect them to play along with a "Self-Esteem" cover and an end to their set with a "Take On Me" cover. That was essentially their set. They came out and played and we'll leave it at that.
I got to go into the pit for a little bit as my 20 year old friend had had enough of being banished to the balcony and chose to leave. The setup of the first floor was weird as they had guard rails going everywhere splitting up different sections of the floor. It's like they wanted someone to get table-topped over the side! There really wasn't much room at the front to form a pit. The people who were moshing were basically right up against the stage anyways.
By the way, the audience for ska concerts are particularly interesting and worth mentioning. Obviously you'll see some hipster-ish types about wearing suspenders, tight pants, and brightly colored hair/wigs. Amongst the people on the balcony, there was a girl who was looking for a wall outlet to charge her phone. I don't know why someone would be so worried about charging their phone at a concert but here she was running around looking for an outlet. When I told her I didn't know of a wall outlet to plug her phone into she wandered off and then she came back and tried making small talk (which is hard to do at a concert). I couldn't really hear anything that she was saying until she said "You know, the people at this concert are really weird." All I could say is, "Well, we are at a ska concert."
Down in the pit, there was also this nerdy looking kid who decided it would be satisfying to grab my pec and make an intense face at me while doing it. I can't say I've ever had that happen to me at a concert before but I suppose there's a first for everything. After the concert was over and we were filing out, there was this straight-laced looking guy wearing a polo who was about 30 years old. He asked my friend if he had any "herb" and my friend didn't respond due to not being able to hear him, confusion, or not knowing what he meant by "herb." I shouted "Nah, I don't think so," at the guy and the guy called us lame for not having any weed. All we could do is laugh about it based on the fact that a guy who looks like that wouldn't seem like the kind of person who would call us lame for not having any weed to give him.
I guess with all of that rambling, what I'm trying to say is that a ska concert is an interesting experience. I would recommend going to a ska concert whether you're a fan of the genre or not. This was really my first full-blown ska concert as the only other major ska band I've seen is Slapstick at Riot Fest 2012. Before the concert, my friend raved about Suburban Legends as an amazing live show and now I see what he's talking about. They really blew the doors off of Reel Big Fish this time and I think that Suburban Legends have a bright future ahead of them.
No comments:
Post a Comment