By snoadmin
Zombies, martians, hot dogs and cows were only a few of the costumes that fans wore for Starpool’s Skalloween show at DiPiazza’s on Friday.
Nastaljia kicked off the night with their themed Star Wars costumes. Their witty banter and charismatic shenanigans made it impossible for the audience to dismiss them.
Andrew Martinez (vocals) jokingly commented to Loren Gamarra (trumpet), dressed in Jedi attire, “I’ve always wondered what’s under this.”
Gamarra undressed and became Princess Leia, with hair buns and dressed in a white suit, gaining cheers from the crowd. Nastaljia covered a range of melodies of indie, jazz and ska that kept everyone entertained.
Stupid Flanders followed soon after with band members wearing matching animal beanies. A skank pit immediately formed as the band played fast-paced ska tracks like “Scotty Doesn’t Know” and “Better Off.”
The band announced, “Time to bust out your flannel, after your coffee” and began playing Nirvana’s “Smell’s Like Teen Spirit” with an instrumental ska-style.
Chase Long Beach hit the stage with band members dressed as Paul Revere, Waldo, a Ninja Turtle and Abraham Lincoln. Meagan Christy (vocals), dressed as Paul Revere, amused the audience as she sang and played trumpet with her extra-long curly beard. By the second song, Christy announced, “There’s so much hair!” as she began picking hair off of her mouth and fake beard, to which everyone laughed in amusement.
As Starpool began setting up for their set, gaps within the crowd began to fill up as fans grew anxious. Once all band members took stage, all were dressed in matching basketball-themed costumes with shirts that read, “Starpool.”
Alan Meade (vocals) took the stage with basketball in hand to which Tbone Willy (trombone) commented, “The only black man in America who can’t play basketball.”
After some banter, Starpool kicked it off with “You Know You Want It,” which got the crowd pumped and ready for more.
A fan in the crowd took a picture of Meade, to which he wittily replied, “Are you taking a picture of my package?”
The fan could only laugh in response to him. Throughout the majority of Starpool’s set, Meade was found within the crowd serenading fans or climbing on sound speakers.
The band also hosted a Halloween contest, to which fans were called onstage to show off their costumes. The winners consisted of a girl with an alien baby, a dead “rude boy” — dressed in typical checkered ska clothes — and a Jedi. The winners won free tickets to the annual Ska Luau in December at the Anaheim House of Blues.
Meade announced that “It’s Alright” would be their last song of the night, which the crowd disproved and began shouting song requests. Soon after, the band jumped into the cover of the Isley Brother’s “Shout” and kept playing fan favorites. Once again, Meade announced that their set was complete and thanked the crowd but the audience would not take that for an answer and began shouting song requests again. To the crowd’s surprise, the band began playing Prince’s “Purple Rain” and despite the random song choice, the crowd loved it.
All bands that played were entertaining and kept the crowd lively. The small stage area allowed for an intimate show that gave just enough space to sing and skank the night away.
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