Reel Big Fish is one of those band I've been trying to get to see for a very long time. With the lone exception of a cameo in the movie "
Baseketball",
this quest has proven quite unsuccessful, though many attempts have been made. Several, unfortunate incidents have gotten in my way of this band over the years, from being late, to other engagements, to just being plain stupid. So when my buddy Mighty Matt (who also suffers from not getting hooked), mentioned Reel Big Fish was coming to town on Tuesday 7/11, I had to be there and just let the Gods of preventing Pesty from seeing this band be damned!
Well, 7/11 finally arrived (yes I know it was a month and a half ago - I've been busy!), and as I was about to leave work to party on with fellow fans Matt and Mike, the Gods decided they didn't want to be damned. Fortunately for me, the Gods that wanted Pesty to finally see Reel Big Fish intervened and convinced their rivals to let me go. This happened in the form of convincing one of my coworkers to graciously take over for me while I head to Kenmore Square to meet my concert mates, who kindly had a cold one waiting for me at Game On! That, my friends, is called having the Gods shining down on you!
After pounding a couple, we head down the road to Avalon night club, the venue for the evening. Streetlight Manifesto was just finishing off their set. They were the third band of five there that evening, and I wish I was able to catch a little more of their set. First of all, I didn't realize until the next day that this band was made up of former members of Catch 22, (I band that I used to thoroughly enjoy in the past). Secondly, their last two songs really kicked ass and got the crowd going.
In between sets we weasel our way up to the front and take up positions pretty close to the stage on the house left side. For those of you who were with me to see A Perfect Circle a few years ago, we were standing in the exact same spot. We wait for the next band, punk rockers MxPx to take the stage. Now, I do like my share of both punk and ska, but I am more of the type to just listen to different songs and not pay too close attention as to who the artist is. Knowing this, my cohorts made me a cd of some of MxPx' songs and much to my surprise, I had heard most of them before. I really could post another blog entry about their set alone, and maybe I will, but since this is a review of the Reel Big Fish show, let's just say they rocked us with songs like "Young and Depressed", "First Day of the Rest of Our Lives", "Chick Magnet", and "Responsibility". MxPx had come out to the stage kicking and then left the crowd screaming with a fantastic cover of "500 Miles" by the Proclaimers (with a bit of Cheap Trick's "Surrender" thrown in), followed by their closer "Punk Rawk Show".
The bill up to that point would have been completely off the hook and well worth the $24, but, as they say, we hadn't seen nothin' yet!
I'm not a novice when it comes to punk rock and ska, and it is of little surprise to me or anyone else when one of these bands belts out a cover or three during their set. But I was not ready for Reel Big Fish to walk out on stage and open the show with a jaw dropping cover of 80s hit "Take On Me" by Ah-ha. I never saw this one coming, and it just set the tone for what was to follow.
What followed was nearly 2 hours of jumping ska sound from the Reel Big Fish that I don't know could be duplicated. They played songs old and new, including "Trendy", mega hit, "Sell Out", "Don't Start a Band", "Drinkin'", "Turn the Radio Off", and "The Fire". As if one cover wasn't enough, they also threw in a ska version of Lita Ford's "Kiss Me Deadly" that was out of this world. They even pulled a girl from the audience to sing backup for "She Has a Girlfriend Now", a part that was done equally well by Monique Powell from
Save Ferris on the original cd "Turn the Radio Off" and Rachel Minton from
Zolof the Rock & Roll Destroyer for the live disc, "Our Live Album is Better than Your Live Album." I'm not sure if this was staged. The girl seem a bit reticent at first, but she belted out the lyrics like an old pro, so maybe they rehearsed ahead of time. Either way, big thumbs up from the Pest on this one, always a funny song and crowd pleaser.
After coming out for the encore by doing several different versions of "S.R." (country, death metal, blues, punk - my favorite was the Run - DMC style rap), came my only complaint of the night. That was the band ending the show by playing the song "Beer" three consecutive times, which isn't something any band should do. (Believe me, that was my only gripe with seeing TSO - Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Great concert, but after playing their money song "Christmas Eve in Sarajevo - you know the tune, the rock Christmas song that is a combo of "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" and "Carol of the Bells" - in the middle of the show, they come out for the encore and play it again! Not exactly my cup of tea for a concert). Personally, at the time, I would have found it funny if the Fish had played "Beer" once, said, "One more time...." launched back into it as a joke but ended it and the show before getting to the lyrics or at least the chorus, but hey, that's just me.
Okay, I'll cut them some slack, as I found out the reason for this a day later. Apparently, at every show fans just keep screamin' "Play Beer!" over and over again. I was too busy enjoying the music to notice. Well, in an attempt to teach their young fans to be careful what they wish for or they may get it, they played the song 3 times before finally leaving the stage. Or at least that's what some guy at the local Newbury Comics told me, and, as they say about information gathered from the internet, it just
had to be true. In any case, I liked this explanation better as there is no reason to play a song more than once, but if you're teaching someone a lesson, I can live with it and did not take away from the show, despite my misgivings.
All in all, Reel Big Fish was fantastic to finally see live and in person and the several year wait was more than worth it.
Pesty.
