What do you get if you put a bunch of ska fans in a tightly packed room with beer and a band that love their job? Why it’s a Reel Big Fish gig of course. Enthusiasm is contagious, and its impossible to deny this when confronted with bounce inducing Reel Big Fish.
Bursting onto the stage to a riotous welcome, accompanied by the main Star Wars theme it was clear from the start that tonight was about fun.
It was at the beginning of the second song of the night “Trendy” that the sea of skanking students started the inevitable crowd surfing and the trusty slap-headed security guards arrived to cradle them to safety. Pulling out old favourites from their surprisingly large back catalogue like an insane magician producing rabbit after rabbit at a kid’s birthday party, the set-list for the night was pure crowd-pleasing brilliance. From the acerbic “Everything sucks” to the mellow (if not slightly Sublime influenced) rendition of “Where have you been?” which included a phenomenal trumpet solo. The firm favourites were intermingled with new selections from their latest album “We’re not happy till you’re not happy” including “The Fire” which was received with loving loyalty and the crowd bounced their approval of the new material. An unexpected cover of the unknown Orange County rockers Social Distortion was delivered with panache and well received. With all the subtlety of a flashing neon sign stating, “Jump now!” the cry of “Viva la cerveza” signalled it was time to move back if you weren’t prepared to skank till death to the boisterous beats of “Beer”.
Showing their incredible talent at picking obscure covers, the exuberant “Take on me” signalled the close of the evening’s festivities. For a gut wrenchingly long time the crowd was left sweating and chanting in the dark for the one last encore. Finally the boys at Reel Big Fish decided not to disappoint their loyal minions and burst into “She has a girlfriend now” with hilarious results. The closing song for the evening “Sell out” seemed rather ironic as what we were witnessing on stage was anything but a bunch of sell-outs. If you weren’t a true believer before, then tonight’s performance would convert the most steely-hearted music fan. If you were, then Reel Big Fish have only managed to reinforce their status as a musical phenomenon.
