Yet More December Ska Shows

A Guy Named Guy
A Guy Named Guy
So who in the band is actually named guy?

Maybe it’s the seasonal good cheer or maybe it’s all the college students home on winter break, but there are more ska shows this December than there have been since I move to Boston in July.

New to the list:

12/14/12 – Home for the Skalidays: Allston – A Guy Named Guy, Short Handed Goal, Llama Tsunami, FORT! The Band, Mr. Furious – The Audio Jungle – All Ages, $5 or a Toy Donation – Facebook Event

Am I too old for this one? I have no idea [yet] what the house show scene is like. For all I know I might get shit for publicizing this show. Either way it doesn’t matter because I don’t have a clue where the Audio Jungle is. Give me a few weeks and I’ll figure it out. What you don’t know you don’t know. This is night one of a two night thing and part two is in Providence the next night. Love to Llama Tsunami from CT who are a total party.

12/21/12 – A Guy Named Guy, Poor Jeremy, The Mahlors – All Asia – 18+, 6pm

I’m not entirely sure what’s up with this show because All Asia is reporting one thing and A Guy Named Guy another. My thoughts on Poor Jeremy are here, A Guy Named Guy has an EP here, though they threaten it may not be free for much longer. Also they have a split with Puerto Rican punk/ska band D-Cent Jerks coming out this Friday. I’d be very curious to hear how that came about! The Mahlors also seem promising. Unrelated, I once had a roommate who was a guy named Guy. I think of him when I mention this band. His sister’s name was Gal. Seriously. And, here’s a tune by D-Cent Jerks:

 

12/29/12 – Patent Pending, Survay Says, The Motions, Yellow Team – Middle East Upstairs – All Ages, $10 adv, $12 doors – TicketsFacebook Event

Okay so really Survay Says is the only ska band on this bill but I adore those guys. My NYC ska/punk band played with them once or twice. Also, in the mid-2000s, Patent Pending used to play great CT Ska shows and I’m a sucker for good pop/punk. I’m a big fan of their most recent record, Second Family (the video for Douchebag is hilarious). I’m going to try to go even though I have to be at the House of Blues an hour later to see Bosstones.

Here’s the video for “Gas Money Millionaires” by Survay Says:

This is actually what I would classify as “too many ska shows.” I’ve seen this before. People are only gonna go to so many shows and then promoters complain ska shows don’t draw. Here’s to hoping this won’t be the case…

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Bomb the Music Industry Returns to the Middle East Dec 20

Everyone’s favorite punk/ska/folk/etc collective/band/guy/party play at the Middle East Downstairs on Thursday, December 20th. Last time I saw them was almost a year ago at Irving Plaza in New York City with The Slackers and The Pietasters. Between their commitment to playing affordable all-ages shows and general party atmosphere (Bring Your Own Band tour anyone?), I’m a fan. Oh and every song is a sing-a-long. Oh and their fans know every word. Every. Word. I’m always impressed by the dedication of their fans.

Thursday, December 20, 2012
Bomb the Music Industry! (special guests  tba)
All Ages, $10, 7 PM Doors
TicketsFacebook Event

UPDATE 12/3/12 8:00 PM: Math the Band added to this bill! Hooray!

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New Music Monday: The Causeway Bandits – High Horse

One of my favorite tech blogs, Mashable, runs a Music Monday feature. I know I’m always in need of fresh tunes on a Monday morning. The Causeway Bandits have released another song on YouTube, this time it’s a far more punk rock sound than the so-ca reggae tune they debuted with. Sounds like they’ve been … Read more

The English Beat Comes to Johnny D’s in Somerville, Jan 29

The English Beat in NYC, August 2010 / photo by Bryan Kremkau, Skapunkphotos.com, used with permission

About 6 years ago I was living in Tucson, AZ, going to shows at the Rialto and Hotel Congress. The hotel was having a Halloween Block Party of sorts with a few different stages of music, including a special outdoor stage on their back patio. There were a ton of bands playing, but the only one I wanted to see was The English Beat. I had a handful of questions that needed answering: when did they start playing again? Who was in the band these days? Who was still interested in seeing this band?

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A New Class of Boston Ska/Punk Bands

Poor Jeremy | Boston Ska

Having only been in Boston for a few months now, I’m not exactly an authority on the scene (yet). It’s not necessarily my place to decide who’s new and old, but the following three bands all introduced themselves as new in the Boston Ska Facebook Group.

This may say more about my own interests or how plugged-in I am (read: my age), but I find it interesting how much ska/punk seems to be coming out of Boston right now. It seems like the other scenes seem to still be generating more traditional ska or reggae revival acts. I think I’m partial to the later, but I’m also stoked to see new faces interested in ska of any sort.

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Hometown Throwdown Openers Announced; RadioBDC Giving Away Tickets

Late last week, RadioBDC told us that Dicky Barrett was going to be on the radio with a huge announcement. The announcement itself was (yawn) that RadioBDC was going to be presenting Hometown Throwdown 15. The best part about it was that Dicky wasn’t even so sure of the announcement himself. Sounds like he got the memo but didn’t read it so closely. Listen to the awkward conversation:

What was significant was that they posted a few more openers for the Hometown Throwdown on their website (and possibly on the radio show but I tuned out shortly after they went back to music). So far we know: Dogmatics open Dec 29, Bouncing Souls on Dec 30, Big D and Amazing Royal Crowns on Dec 31. I’ve got tickets to the 29th so I naturally had to go listen to the Dogmatics. They’ve got a garage-y Ramones thing going on.

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November/December Ska Shows and News

Welcome to first post on Boston Ska (dot) net. Let’s call this a soft launch. I’d been blogging at jacobwakeup.com and decided to start this sucker.

I missed the first couple weeks of November but there’s still a decent amount going on. I wasn’t able to make it to The Toasters on November 3rd at Johnny D’s. Did anyone catch any video from the show? I wasn’t able to find any on YouTube. It’s okay, The Toasters will be at TT’s in March.

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Boston Ska News Roundup October 2012

Originally posted at jacobwakeup.com

So the Obi Fernandez CD release show was awesome. Soul Rebel Project was tight but didn’t quite move me, Riki Rocksteady was a blast, and of course Obi Fernandez KILLED it. They played mostly new stuff, as far as I could tell, some Westbound Train tunes, and some great covers. Specifically, they opened with a sick rocksteady version of “The KKK Took My Baby Away.” Obi was giving out download cards for his new record. Stream it on Spotify or buy it directly from Paper + Plastick (it’s worth it to buy it, and purchases are without a doubt, better for the artist). And of course now I’m all the more stoked for The Aggrolites on Tuesday.

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October Ska Shows [And Other News]

Originally posted at jacobwakeup.com

So I sort of blinked and noticed there’s a handful of great ska shows in Boston this month. And then I noticed they weren’t all listed anywhere. In the event that Bostonska.com doesn’t get around to posting them, I wanted to pull them all together. So, risking being the new guy who rolls into town and pretends he knows what’s up, I’ve got a very incomplete arbitrarily compiled list! Feel free to add more in the comments that I might have missed.

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