One of the main reasons for our trip to California?...
Ska Music
But what is Ska?
According to Wikipedia:
Ska is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the 1950’s and was the PRECURSOR to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walking bass line accented with rhythms on the off beat.
Got that? 😂
History of Ska
In the early days of Ska, Jamaican DJ’s would load sound systems onto the back of trucks. Then they would host dance parties in the streets. This was a huge cultural event and the most popular DJ’s eventually pressed their own vinyl singles.
The records made ska portable. With favorite albums in hand, Jamaican migrants moved in mass to the UK. Their labor helped rebuild Britain’s economy in the post WWII years, and their music was quickly adopted by the UK’s working class communities.
In the next decade, ska was strongly influenced by British punk bands and the new wave sound. This “second wave” of ska became known as 2 Tone. The 2 Tone name came from a record label started by a band called the Specials. During this time the black and white checkered pattern became synonymous with ska. It represented both the 2 Tone movement and a desire for racial unity/equality at a time when racial tensions were high.
The popularity of 2 Tone brought ska full circle back to the Americas.
American ska bands began appearing throughout the 1980’s on both coasts. Their sound was influenced by punk, pop and rap music and horn sections became wildly popular. In the 1990’s bands like Sublime, Fishbone, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones and No Doubt ushered in Third Wave ska and the music’s popularity soared throughout the decade.
So how exactly did ska end of being a main reason for my recent trip to California?
My husband LOVES 1990’s third wave ska.
So much so, that he started an Instagram Newszine in his spare time called Ska Punk Daily. The site is also on Facebook. In the last year Ska Punk Daily has accumulated almost 32,000 followers.
Hubs has some music experience. He’s played in a few bands and worked as a music journalist for an Australian newspaper back in the 1990’s. At the same time he freelanced for different ska magazines. In the mid 2000’s hubs founded a site called The Pier devoted to Reggae Rock. Over the years he has interviewed hundreds of bands and we have seen just as many shows. He is very passionate about music, so his hobby often grows bigger than a typical hobby. 😄
So California... during our trip we had TWO ska related activities. The first was a movie premiere! 😍 On Friday, April 26th we attended a screening of Pick it Up at the Newport Beach Film Festival. The film is a documentary on the rise (and fall) of Third Wave Ska music.
Here is a trailer from the film:
The screening was sold out with many people from the scene in attendance. Now, I enjoy ska, but I don’t know it like my husband. However, I did spot a few familiar faces (different band members) in the crowd, which was cool. Even cooler though was after the movie! The film is a documentary about a music genre and the bands involved. When the lights came on in the theater I realized we were surrounded by the musicians in the bands! Save Ferris was in front of me. A guy from Sublime across the aisle, Reel Big Fish one direction, the singer from a newer Orange County band behind us. It was so much fun!
And... Ska Punk Daily was thanked twice in the movie’s credits!
YAY Husband!
So fun!
So what came next?
On Saturday we went Back to the Beach! 🏖
The Back to the Beach Festival is the brainchild of John Feldman of the band Goldfinger and Travis Barker from Blink 182. This is the second year of the two day festival. Some of you may remember we attended Back to the Beach last year as well.
Last year the festival was two days of Ska with 16 amazing bands. The whole event was mind blowing. This year didn’t have quite the same vibe, and we only attended the first day since day two was all Emo bands. 😐
The line up.
Before the music started, we made the rounds at the merch tents. Hubs was able to catch up with folks involved with the Pick it Up Movie. We also spent some time visiting with members of the bands Half Past Two and Code Name Rocky.
The Drowns
In the midst of schmoozing we missed the first band of the day, The Drowns. Luckily they are from Seattle. This make chances of seeing them another time seem high. ☺️
The English Beat
The second band of the day was The English Beat. The Beat (as they are known in the UK) formed in 1978 in Birmingham, England. They have a distinctly British sound. Two of their most famous songs are Save it for Later and Mirror in the Bathroom. Several members of the band, including recently deceased Ranking Roger also were part of the band General Public. As a tribute to Roger, the Beat played Tenderness, General Public’s most famous song. Tenderness was also one of my MOST FAVORITE songs in middle school, so hearing it performed live was excellent!
Save Ferris
Band three on Saturday was Save Ferris. Originating in Orange County, California, Save Ferris is fronted by singer Monique Powell. Her vibe and energy are very similar to a young Gwen Stefani, except Save Ferris never achieved the same level of success as No Doubt. Monique was a trained opera singer, but joined a band to do what she loved every day - sing. Chris Dowd from the band Fishbone played keyboards during the full set.
The Aquabats
Next up were the Aquabats. The Aquabats are a nutty band. They wear matching outfits made of wetsuits to look like super heroes and sing songs about pizza. They used to have a kids show called the Aquabats Super Show that was at the same time weird, hilarious and utterly delightful. The lead singer is known as Bat Commander. During their set the band sent inflatable shark and pizza slice shaped pool floaties into the crowd. People were crowd surfing on the inflatables. The band also “fought” an assortment of “evil villains” on stage.
Streetlight Manifesto and Reel Big Fish
By the time Streetlight Manifesto and Reel Big Fish took the stage I needed a rest. So sadly, I have no photos or video of either band. There were just so many people at the show (over 30,000) that being close(ish) to stage was getting intense!
Streetlight Manifesto formed in New Jersey in 2002. The band has an amazing horn section. This is one of my favorite of their songs.
Reel Big Fish formed in 1987 in Orange County, California. The band has a gold album thanks to the song Sell Out. Ironically the song is about a band “selling out” when they become radio famous. We saw them play locally a couple months ago and are seeing them again in June. Here is one of my favorite Reel Big Fish songs.
Goldfinger
At 6:15pm it was time for the second to last band of the day, Goldfinger. As I mentioned earlier, John Feldman (the festival’s organizer) fronts Goldfinger. The band originated in Los Angeles in 1994 and gained a real following when their song “Superman” was featured in a Tony Hawk skateboarding video game. The band’s performance served as the ska punk finale of the festival.
During their set Goldfinger was joined on stage by Mike Herrera, the lead singer of MXPX. Save Ferris and The English Beat also came back on stage for this part of the show. In homage to last year’s festival, Nick Hexum from 311 and Rome from Sublime with Rome both made surprise appearances. The two bands had headlined last year.
But wait! There’s MORE!😮
BLINK 182!!!
Blink 182 is one of these bands I don’t give nearly enough credit. But the thing is I love Blink 182. There are very few albums I can listen to straight through, but I can listen to their’s straight through and on repeat. This year marks the 20th anniversary of Blink’s Enema of the State album. In honor of this milestone the band performed the ENTIRE album at the show.
I was SO excited!
The thing is this album came out the year my husband and I met. It reminds me of falling in love. It reminds me of being young and traveling. 1999 was one of the best years of my life, so hearing these songs brought all of those happy feelings straight to the surface.
The show ended about 9pm. Then we got stuck in the parking lot at Huntington State Beach for about an hour. But all was not lost! In typical Cali style the night ended with a delicious In-n-Out Burger!!! Yum yum!
A good time was had by all!
All photos and videos (with the exception of the “Pick it Up” trailer, Streetlight Manifesto video and Reel Big Fish video) taken by me April 27th, 2019 on an iPhone 7.
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