1960s vintage clothing, Italian motorscooters, Mary Quant, ska, soul, R&B garage, power-pop, reggae, rock’n’roll, The Jam, The Who, the Small Faces, Quadrophenia, Purple Hearts – these are all words that can be linked to the Mod Movement.

Mods Mayday is a celebration of all things Mod and although you may not know it, there is quite a healthy Sydney Mod scene flourishing in Sydney, linking the rudeboy and skinhead movements. Thanks to the members of Skorch, they are not willing to let Sydneysiders forget about these important subcultures and have put together one hell of a night to jog our memory once and for all!

Walking towards the Gaelic Club, it wasn’t too hard to miss the numerous scooters parked right out front. On walking inside, I was greeted with the sweet sound of sixties R&B and headed straight towards the stage to see just what DTS were up to.

I’ve had the pleasure of seeing DTS numerous times and this was no exception to the rule. Sixties R&B with a little hint of garage and a dash of Brit-pop. The perfect potion really. It’s not every day that you see such a well-dressed band! The lead singer bounces around like Zebedee on acid, wearing a very fetching military jacket and hitting that tambourine when he feels so inclined to get busy with it. The rhythm guitarist had a Beatles look happening while another member of the band had his best paisley shirt on display. The venue seemed to be half full during the set and for the first band of the night, DTS received quite a warm reception indeed! As their set came to a close, I noticed plenty of smiles and hands clapping, which in my books is all groovy baby!

The DJs (Steve Bardsley, Biff Bang and RacerX) filled in the gap between the next band with some great tunes. One song in particular, transported me back to age eighteen, playing the Dogs in Space soundtrack. The Marching Girls True Love would have to be one of my favourite teenage anthems of all time.

“True love is beautiful.
True love and everything’s cool.
True love is working out.
True loves what it’s all about”.

Doesn’t get much better than that! Or so I thought until the beginning of the Sonics Psycho blasted through the speakers.

Johnny Lambretta took on the role of charming MC for the night and provided the perfect build up for The Booby Traps to hit the stage. All three female members looked striking in their matching mini dresses and white boots. A Boobytraps show is always an enjoyable one. Plenty of sixites garage comin at you. Screaming, nasty girl vocals that could pierce your eardrums in 10 seconds flat. Warm fuzzy guitar that takes me to a time when Boss Hoss and Skinny Minny let the good times roll. Sweet melodies, and sixties drumbeats that come from the heart of all things garage.

The band seem to have plenty of fun on stage and this is also evident on the dance floor. For one gentleman in the crowd, the spell was cast and he was front and centre, dancing away with the band, oblivious to anything else going on around him. This was his party and the band were the only ones invited. I recognised a few newies in the set, which is always a bonus. As the band played their last song, the crowd showed their appreciation and clapped and cheered for more.

A beer, a chat and a few hellos was all it took for Backy Skank to start their set. Quite remarkable really when you see all nine members on stage. It’s great to see a ska band in action and Backy Skank certainly fit that category.

Did they get the crowd skanking or what?! All of a sudden the dance floor was packed with eager punters willing to dance their arses off! Backy Skank looked the part. Nice suits, dance moves and a terrific horn section. Everyone was smiling and there were plenty of opportunities to laugh at the humorous banter between songs. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a ska band and this band really made me question why I waited so long. I couldn’t see one person in the crowd who wasn’t enjoying the set.

Of course Backy Skank requested the presence of the Skorch crew on stage. How could they say no? Backy Skank are the perfect party band and the punters showed their appreciation with their feet. No one was walking out of the Gaelic club during their set because the crowd’s dancing shoes sure as hell wouldn’t let them!

By the end of Backy Skank’s set, the downstairs of the Gaelic club was getting reasonably full and this was my cue to move upstairs. I found a pew in time for the debut screening in Australia for the nine-minute short film titled American Mod. Great soundtrack by HeadQuarters, a really cool scene in a record store and a bad cake deal (and we aren’t talking birthday cake kids). I really enjoyed this little flick and it created a nice change of pace.

The City Lights were the next cab off the rank. I haven’t seen this band live for a few years at least, so I was looking forward to seeing them tonight. They certainly are an interesting little package. Once you rip open the wrapping paper, you are exposed to a noisy, power pop band with all the bells, whistles and flashing lights that get your attention. Throw in a couple of badges and there’s the flash of colour. They’re clean, sometimes mean and singer James has already broken a string during the first song. Five songs into the set and James finally decides to play a replacement guitar.

I really enjoyed seeing them play from the upstairs balcony, as it’s the perfect opportunity to really be able to see the drummer in action. Being a drummer myself, I find it extremely frustrating when I cannot see the drummer playing so this really was a treat for me. The singing is reminiscent of Tim Rogers and I don’t know if I’m totally sold on that, but I cannot fault the melodies, and there are plenty of them to enjoy.

Personally, my favourite part of the City Lights set was the last song, when they really let loose in true garage fashion. The keyboard player lost his mind and went totally crazy, thus his keyboard being played at such a severe angle. Bottle that energy and you have a pure garage potion that many folk won’t be able to kick in a hurry.

Alright! Competition time! Plenty of eager beavers are waiting at the front of the stage, hoping that they will be the proud owners of the winning ticket that will get them some free Ben Sherman merch to wear to the next Skorch event. Funny enough, there was a period of five long minutes where no one was holding the winning ticket! My humble opinion is that some of the punters were having such a terrific time that the beer goggles made it extremely difficult for them to remember ever having a ticket in the first place. Extremely funny really. Finally, winners were found and all freebies were given away, although I wonder if anyone got mugged on the way out the door with their bag of goodies?

Unfortunately, the Strange Tenants were before my time. This is their first gig in Sydney for eighteen years! Plenty of people here tonight were waiting with much anticipation for the chance to see them in action again. As they walked out on stage, the band were greeted with much applause, and as they played their first song, it was very hard to tell that it had been that long between drinks. Not quite as up beat as Backy Skank, the Strange Tenants take the ska factor down a notch but the intensity is still there. The horn section really was first class in accenting the quality of their songs.

A very enthusiastic punk lass jumped on stage very early on in the set, dancing with the band for quite a few songs, before jumping back into the crowd. I really enjoyed watching the drummer. He was my favourite. Such an usual drumming style! He made the most amazing drummer faces that I have ever witnessed! The crowd lapped it up, the front of the stage was crammed with eager people dancing away and reliving the old days, while younger fans were just happy to finally see the band play a live show.

The John Holmes gag between songs made me laugh, followed by a “I wouldn’t bullshit ya, I promise that”. The Strange Tenants played so long that the bass player had to leave the stage to take a piss. Most people in the crowd found that extremely amusing. As the Strange Tenants set clocked in around nearly two hours, I couldn’t help but watch the crowd below, going absolutely crazy. Skins, boot boys/girls, mods, rude boys and ska lovers – united in their love for ska and happily enjoying themselves.

It was all about the music and at the end of the day – that’s all the counts!