Event Information
18+ w/ valid photo ID, under 18 must be accompanied by parent or guardian. There is a $5 surcharge for persons under 21.
Reel Big Fish - Summer of SKA 2012 Biography
Reel Big Fish was one of the legions of Southern California ska-punk bands to edge into the mainstream following the mid-’90s success of No Doubt and Sublime. Like most of their peers, the band was distinguished by their hyperkinetic stage shows, juvenile humor, ironic covers of new wave pop songs, and metallic shards of ska. The group cultivated an underground following that broke into the mainstream in summer 1997, when their single “Sell Out” became a modern rock radio and MTV favorite. Their appearance in the movie “Baseketball” as the halftime band also gained them more fans and helped the bands popularity to grow. Still fronted by original lead singer and song writer Aaron Barrett, they continue releasing albums and touring relentlessly, playing more and more countries and bigger venues all over the world.
Reel Big Fish recorded its self-released debut album, “Everything Sucks”, in 1995. “Everything Sucks” became a word-of-mouth underground hit in ska-punk and college circles, which gave the band enough leverage to sign with the indie label Mojo Records. The label’s president, Jay Rifkin, and former Oingo Boingo bassist John Avila co-produced “Turn the Radio Off”, which marked Reel Big Fish’s first album for Mojo. “Turn the Radio Off” was unleashed in August 1996, and over the next year, the group continually toured in support of the album’s release, expanding their fan base all the while. In spring 1997, the single “Sell Out” began receiving heavy airplay from several influential modern rock stations in the U.S., which soon translated into MTV support for the song’s quirky video. By summer, the song had become a moderate modern rock hit, and the album had charted in the Top 100.
In 1998 the song “Take on Me” from the “Baseketball” motion picture soundtrack was released as the promotional single for the movie and once again found the band in regular rotation on rock radio and MTV in the USA.
The Album “Why Do They Rock So Hard” followed a year later, once again enlisting Oingo Boingo Bassist John Avila as producer. The album was not as commercially successful but is still regarded by many fans as the bands finest work. The band filmed a music video for “the Set up (You Need This)”, the only single released from this album.
The guys wound up on Jive Records in fall 2001 when their current label, Mojo, was bought by Jive’s parent label, Zomba. Reel Big Fish’s first release for Jive, a more rock-oriented record entitled “Cheer Up!”, appeared in mid-2002. This album was very successful in Europe with the video for the single “Where Have You Been” receiving heavy airplay on many music video channels.
The band’s next album, the cynical yet catchy “We’re Not Happy ‘Til You’re Not Happy”, was issued in April 2005. Touring continued for the rest of the year, and Reel Big Fish happily parted ways with Jive in January 2006, having wished to be dropped from the label since the “Cheer Up!” release.
In August 2006, the group self-released a double-disc live CD (along with an accompanying DVD) titled “Our Live Album Is Better Than Your Live Album”. A few months later — and much to the annoyance of the band — Jive issued its own Reel Big Fish album, a best-of compilation entitled “Greatest Hit…and More”. Reel Big Fish received no money from the album’s sales, as Jive Records now owned the rights to the bulk of their songs. The band has urged fans not to buy this album because it was not approved by them and the sound quality is inferior.
Nevertheless, the band returned with some new material in February 2007, splitting an EP “Duet All Night Long” with their friends in Zolof the Rock & Roll Destroyer. “Monkeys for Nothin’ and the Chimps for Free” followed several months later, marking Reel Big Fish’s first full-length studio release since leaving Jive’s roster, and 2009′s “Fame, Fortune and Fornication” found the band covering songs by the likes of Poison, the Eagles, and Tom Petty.
The band’s latest release is called “A Best of Us for the Rest of Us”. It includes a 22 song disc of re-recorded hits and classic fan favorites as well as a bonus disc of 14 Acoustic or “SKAcoustic” versions.
Reel Big Fish continues to tour non-stop, playing over 250 shows a year to thousands of loyal fans all over the world, gaining more and more underground popularity as the Ska scene continues to flourish.
Big D and the Kids Table Biography
Big D and the Kids Table front man David McWane has said, “There are people who want to be in a band and then there are musicians.” Once in a while a group comes along that makes music simply because they have no other choice – they are addicted musicians. For the past fifteen years Boston’s Big D And The Kids Table has proven just that, regardless of the band’s poverty. McWane describes the group as – “We’re modern American gypsies,” And you can feel that sense in their wildest record yet – For The Damned The Dumb & The Delirious.
“The person who put it best is [Warped Tour founder] Kevin Lyman”, McWane explains. “A friend once asked him if we were a ‘big band’, and Kevin replied, ‘I’ll tell you this…they’ve been around for 14 years and each year they’re extremely relevant.’
“Our new record is by far our best yet,” says McWane. “It’s a bomb! Our energy writing it was incredible. As friends, we had a blast; as musician’s, we knew exactly what we wanted to craft; and as tour mates, we were all on the same page, writing songs that would make the coming tour a slaughtering battle on stage. We love energy, and that’s what we packed these explosive songs with.”
For The Damned The Dumb & The Delirious is filled with driving ska-punk bangers, leaping off the stage thrash, seedy dub and topped off with a lot of that good ol’ fashion working class, Boston bar room beer toasting anthems. It’s gritty, bratty and raw – confident, witty and fun.
“I personally prefer shows where you have to prove yourself,” McWane adds when asked which of the band’s thousands of live performances stick out in his head. “The Warped Tours, Reading & Leads, and the Dropkick Murphys tours that we did were exciting because you had to prove yourself. The feeling is similar to when your band first starts out; you get that first-show anxiousness,” he continues. “When you play shows where everyone loves you, then it turns more into entertaining—and that can be fun, but that’s not where I personally come from,” he elaborates. “I like the underdog shows more because they add spice and kick.” Armed with a record as youth driven, honest speaking, furious and fun as For The Damned The Dumb & The Delirious, Big D will undoubtedly get the opportunity in sweaty clubs all over the world, to step up to the plate and prove themselves all over again
“We want to wake up the masses with this record, remind them that they’re more than just alive; and make their Mondays into Saturday nights. Lovers of our sound better get ready ‘cause no one’s gonna help them in the front row of this coming tour. If you wanna relax – head to the back.” – says McWane
Suburban Legends Biography
Out of the cultural holocaust of Orange County comes the superhero-like brilliance of Suburban Legends. Six recklessly handsome boys have devoted their lives to creating a glorious variety pack of ska music, all for your enjoyment. So put down those antidepressants and forget what's waiting on TIVO because it's time to enjoy a rocking good adrenaline rush.
The Maxies Biography
Americans...get preparation. THE MAXIES ARE HERE!!! We illegally relocated to your sunny South California to show how make best SUPER PUNK ROCK PARTY and the spread MAXIE MANIA!!! We are biggest band in GREENLAND and shitty North Western Europe. We bring CHAOTIC POWER POP PUNK ROCK to make dancing for one and all. We punch American punk rockers and American rude boys right in the cocksucker. GREENLAND punk rockers and rude boys much more dangerous. We lose many Maxies to immigration. But THE MAXIES are like disease transmitted sexual, we comeback in smuggled package smelling like fish. We hope to our loving to see many cute American girls and very sexy American boys at our SUPER PUNK ROCK PARTIES!!! This brings much warmth to our ice cold hearts.
Always has the top 10 on Greenland radio and G-MTV. We have two songs in the top 40 in Finland, Denmark and Sweden. In GREENLAND, we SUPER PUNK ROCK PARTY with your bands that beg to join (Coldplay, Green Day, Slipknot, U2, Alkaline Trio, Muse, Kid Rock, 30 Seconds to Mars, Blink 182, Madonna, Nickleback, Sum 41, NIN, The Killers, Rammstein, The Who, etc.). These bands sucks next to us. In U.S. and A., we throw SUPER PUNK ROCK PARTIES with many queercore bands (Reel Big Fish, Narcoleptic Youth, Adolescents, Voodoo Glow Skulls, Adicts, Re-Volts, Knock-Out, D.I., The Exploited, The Dopamines, Super Nova, Sham 69, Angry Samoans, Agent Orange, Dead Kennedys, etc.). THE MAXIES are more famous then these. We are true kings of ROCK. More PUNK than ROCK. More ROCK than PUNK! If you don't like us, then your taste is only in your mouth! We will be in U.S. and A. until we are deported. We are soon to be in your top 10 radio. We will be bigger and better than your famous Black Flag, Bad Religion or shitty REM. Get ready for the best thing you have ever heard! WE RULE!!!!!