It was the night that WA ska punk fans, new and old, had dreamt about as they were etching the names of their favourite bands onto a desk during an uninspiring maths class in high school: Streetlight Manifesto, Less Than Jake and Reel Big Fish all playing the same show and in Perth, of all places. The atmosphere at a ska gig is always a carefree and enthusiastic one and it went above and beyond that at Metro City on Friday night as a sold out (none of the top floors were open and with the amount of people who wanted tickets but missed out, it was hard to see the logic in that) show of borderline alcoholic skankers enjoyed a nostalgic night of sing-alongs and outrageously crazy legs and arms.
Longtime players in the Aussie punk scene, Sydney’s Bagster, opened proceedings and made sure the punters who were to arrive later just to catch the ‘internationals’, regret spending that extra hour drinking beer at home. These guys have brass in their band but instead of using the horns in support of the offbeat guitar strums of a ska song as one might expect, they are used in support of catchy punk riffs and melodies. They provided the early birds with a kickarse set of songs that was the perfect warm up for pairs of limbs which would be a little on the achy side the next day.
Streetlight Manifesto have a much smaller profile than Less Than Jake and Reel Big Fish but as far as quality is concerned they are up there with the best. Taking full advantage of their limited time on stage, the seven-piece from New Jersey produced a whole-hearted 40 minute set, showcasing their genuine high quality of musicianship. With the crowd already on their side after having their t shirts on sale for only $10, there was no doubting that their mosh pit was going to be a mad one to play to. They opened with the anthemic We Will Fall Together and for the next 40 minutes the pit below them was a chaotic flurry of ska fans in their element on a Friday night. There was little chatter from the band as they went from song to song and squeezed in as many crowd favourites, such as Keasby Nights and Everything Went Numb, as they could. This left every person who was involved in the Manifesto’s shenanigans wondering how the hell they were going to do it all again when the ever energetic Less Than Jake hit the stage. This was nothing that some red bull (and vodka or jager for some) couldn’t fix and everyone was back and ready to go for the 5 Floridians who could easily vie for most popular ska punk band in Australia.
Less Than Jake have made it to our shores at least once every year in recent times and no one ever gets sick of them coming. No two people seem to have the same ‘favourite’ Less Than Jake song, so if they didn’t get to hear their ‘favourite’ on the last tour they will most likely hear it on the next one, perhaps this is the reason why no one ever misses them when they tour. It was a classic Less Than Jake show, forgetting about tracks from their recent major label effort, which interviews would suggest they now regret making, they went back to the songs that sound best coming out of the stereo in a high school common room or on the soundtrack of a surfing or skating vid. Classics such as Boring Town, Look What Happened, Johnny Quest Thinks We’re Sell Outs and All My Best Friends Are Metalheads all featured. The crowd had increased in volume in regards to both sound and size for LTJ and the shortness of breath and tired muscles of the Streetlight moshers was long forgotten until the band stepped off the stage and they all realised the red bull had only carried them to song three and they’d been running off their own supply ever since. The cheeky banter coming from frontmen Roger and Chris was in fine form, encouraging two young ladies to come up and make out on stage, a picture which will no doubt make into the girls’ xmas family photo collection. This set was not the stellar two-hour marathon they performed at Amplifier this time last year but it was an hour of Less Than Jake music that people have been getting silly and/or drunk for over 10 years now and will no doubt continue to do so until their spouse tells them to grow up or cirrhosis kicks in.
It was debatable whether or not Reel Big Fish should have closed the showcase, perhaps in the US they are a bigger band than Less Than Jake (anyone remember them in Baseketball?) but in Australia LTJ would almost certainly have a larger fanbase. That issue aside, there is no denying that Reel Big Fish are the reel (big) deal when it comes to the ska-punk scene and they made sure they played a show deserving of the closing spot. Performing what could only be described as a greatest hits collection plus a few songs from their recently released Monkeys for Nothin’ and the Chimps for Free, they fed off the energetic and gleeful atmosphere that their predecessors had laid out for them and any qualms anyone had with them closing the show were quelled at the sound of the first horn. Songs like Take On Me, She Has a Girlfriend Now, Sell Out and the most appropriate Beer, are genuine ska sing-along bliss and if people weren’t dancing around like maniacs they were singing along in perfect chorus. Less Than Jake’s Roger could even be seen milling around in the crowd while RBF were playing, which earned him many a free shot and from some reports, which are yet to be confirmed, landed him some female company for the night. All in all the whole show lived up to the anticipation that’s been present for it ever since it was announced earlier in the year. Metro City once again did not disappoint in terms of sound quality, any genre of music just sounds awesome in there and it is easily one of, if not the best live venue in Perth. Hopefully the success of this show will send a message out to promoters to bring more international ska acts to our isolated and deprived shores.
