Ska fans congregated at the Fox Theatre in Pomona on Thursday to see ska bands Reel Big Fish and Streetlight Manifesto perform.
While the two bands are distinctly different music wise, both bands complemented one another live.
As the crowd awaited Reel Big Fish to take the stage, fans chanted “Olé” in hopes of calling out the band quicker. Soon after, the lights went out and the audience roared with cheers as Reel Big Fish humorously walked on stage. The band immediately kicked it off with a fan favorite, “Everything Sucks.”
After their first track, Aaron Barrett [vocals] asked, “How many of you are having fun? How many of you are girls? Ladies? Women? That’s everyone!”
This was a perfect introduction for their following song, “I Want Your Girlfriend to Be My Girlfriend.” The crowd cheered in delight as they recognized the opening chords of the Toots and the Maytals’s “Monkey Man.” Everyone sang along to the classic ska number and skanked away.
Barrett introduced the following song; “It’s about a girl who left me for another girl” and began playing “She Has A Girlfriend Now.” At some point, Barrett prompted everyone to admire his guitar skills. “Quiet! Here begins the fucking guitar mastery.” Despite his request, the audience laughed and continued to cheer even louder.
The band played another cover, Jim Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl.” Barrett said, “If you don’t know this song — fuck you!” The horn section began in unison and the crowd cheered, instantly recognizing the catchy tune as the band played it in a ska-style.
Fans who have previously seen Reel Big Fish knew what to expect once the band began playing, “Suburban Rhythm,” and those who were seeing them for their first time were in for a real treat. After finishing the song, Barrett announced that they would play the same song again five more times in punk, country, blues, disco and metal styles. However, each time Barrett gave specific instructions on how to dance: skanking, starting a circle pit, booty shaking, square dancing or head-banging, depending on genre.
With Christmas around the corner, Reel Big Fish introduced a special guest — Santa Claus (drummer Ryland Steen), who played drums and covered the holiday tune “Santa Claus is Coming To Town.” The band finished off their with their hit songs, “Sell Out” and a cover of A-Ha’s “Take On Me.”
Throughout the band’s entire set, audience interaction was always on a high. Their ability to entertain the crowd allowed them to break down the barrier and make the crowd feel like they were part of the show. The overall feeling of their set was filled with fun and banter between band members, allowing a brief moment for fans to catch their breath before they kicked it off with another track.
As the band finished their set and Streetlight Manifesto’s backdrop was lifted, fans grew anxious. As time grew closer, the crowd chanted “Streetlight” illustrating their eagerness to experience their music live. The lights dimmed and the band’s intro instrumental was heard and the pushing immediately began. The band walked on stage and wasted no time by jumping into their first track, “Watch It Crash.” Since the beginning of Streetlight’s set, there wasn’t a body in sight that wasn’t skanking and singing along with the band.
While Reel Big Fish has a style that leans toward audience interaction, Streetlight Manifesto have a different method in captivating the audience’s attention. With hardly any banter, the band kept the drive high with their back-to-back songs and energy they gave off while onstage.
Despite the lack of banter and audience interaction, songs like “We Will Fall Together” captured the energy and unison Streetlight’s songs create between the band and fans. Their diversity allowed them to infuse ska, jazz and hard rock to create catchy numbers like “Forty Days” which highlighted the talent of the horn section.
“A Better Place, A Better Time” was definitely a crowd favorite. As Tomas Kalnoky [vocals/guitar] started with the opening guitar chords, fans cheered in delight. The sea of fans overpowered the band as they sang along with just as much passion as Kalnoky.
Even with softer songs like, “A Moment Of Silence,” fans continued to go crazy by moshing, skanking and crowd-surfing. The intensity of the crowd never flailed from start to finish. There was always a constant stream of bodies surfing above the crowd.
As Streetlight Manifesto finished their set and walked offstage, fans demanded more. The crowed chanted, “One more song!” for an encore and after a few minutes, the band returned and played “Here’s To Life” and finished strong with “The Big Sleep.”
