ouchie

My chest hurts, and I know why. I washed my hair in the bathtub, and the rolled up beach towel on the edge of the tub wasn't enough padding. Or maybe it's just a bad idea to lean over the side of the tub. It's easier than the sink though.

I worked yesterday(Saturday) and actually worked later than I generally would have on a Saturday, but Momma was really busy Friday night, and she and the rest of the kitchen used up nearly everything we'd prepped for them.

Yesterday was also the day of Ska Weekend, an annual, local ska music festival I've blogged about before. It's even had its own tag for maybe a couple of years. Last year even saw me posting videos of some of the bands I was looking forward to seeing. I wasn't that good about it this year, but as an excuse I'll offer that it happened about a month earlier than usual. Also I wasn't horribly interested in most of the bands playing.

As it turns out, the new venue that hosted Ska Weekend this year is truly one of my least favorite of all the venues I've visited in this town. I'm just not a huge fan of the south lawn of World's Fair Park, especially when you sit in the middle of the sun baked field and remember past shows in the Old City.

I imagine having worked nearly nine hours before rushing home to wash my hair and change clothes before rushing back out to stand in more heat didn't help. Having friends in from out of town helped, and it was nice to be able to sit back on the lawn while the boys had plenty of space to run around. Really the only thing missing from WFP is some nice big trees to make some shade.

And now, my chest hurts. It was all that leaning over the side of the tub. And really, the blame goes to me for not having gotten a haircut. It's still growing, though that part really isn't a surprise. I even have to pull my hair back at work because I can't stand the feel of it sticking to my sweaty neck, and then I leave it tied up. And it really is a tiny pony tail and most ridiculous looking I'm sure. I can't actually see it, but I'm quite certain it's at the very least ridiculous.

I've said this to Momma many times, but I'm about ready to cut it all off and end the stupid experiment once and for all. It's crazy and gets big kinks in it and half the time is like a cloud floating around my head. It looks okay right after a shower when it's almost all the way dry. The rest of time it's just . . .

I don't know. It isn't really that long yet, and summer is almost over, so the heat thing won't be a factor. I don't know.

post weekend

Ska Weekend '07 has now gone, the anticipation ended for the little time it takes us to start imagining who is going to play next year. I have to say, driving away, we probably all were already looking forward to Ska Weekend '08. My face is a lovely bright red while my hair is more annoying than usual. The hair is a whole other post, but the tiny bit of rain that fell on us certainly gave it a whole new flair. The face is because, while I did put sunscreen on the boys and even on my tattoo (still newish) I did not in fact put any anywhere else on me. I considered it, but decided on not.

I think you could have guessed easily which of us were locals when the first few drops of rain spattered to the ground. We were the ones looking up into the sky, hoping it would continue to fall into our faces while simultaneously hoping the heaviest downpour would at least hold out the couple of hours left. It rained just enough, and we got lucky at least so far as it not turning into steam and cooking us like Asian dumplings.

We didn't see all the bands we'd been looking forward to. At least one band escaped us as we left the festival to walk a half block to eat. The Slackers were as good as ever as was Mustard Plug, though I'll admit that for most of Mustard Plug's set I was in the shop of a friend, peering at the stage from her back door. We missed the performance by Dr. Ring Ding who, hailing from Germany, had the longest drive of anyone. We also missed Last Martyrs of a Lost Cause.

My personal favorite would be a tie between Chicago's Deals Gone Bad and DC's Pietasters. The Pietasters have long been a favorite band, and Deals Gone Bad, new to us last year, have become a household favorite. Big Brother does love to sing along with the dirty song, though he doesn't quite get the lyrics. Big Brother and I were even able to say "HI" to DGB's singer and thank him for the show. Mentioning favorite bands, in a close third (or second assuming DGB and the Pietasters tied for first) we have to mention Westbound Train, soulful ska band that just can't help but make you feel good.

I haven't yet tried to find any stats about the show. The show is a fundraiser for a local organization, Second Harvest, that works to feed people throughout our area. In addition to the money, canned food donations are encouraged, so of course we always bring a couple bags of food.

On hand were the usual visitors and ska lovers, the random kid trying to emulate the mods of the Two Tone era, the skinheads and even the skinhead couples with children, the kids whose ska style seems to have developed more as a love for the checkerboard motif and oddly enough the random emo kid. I wanted, after cutting their hair, to ask them how emo kids could possibly stand the happiness that is inherent at any ska show, much less a huge 30 band ska festival. But I didn't. And it should be mentioned that the skin heads one sees at the ska show are not the ruthless and racist asshole skins we've all come to know and loathe, but I'm not the least bit a skin and won't here regale you with the history of the original skins in Europe and their working class roots. Seriously, real skins are not racist, but the racist copy cats have made them all look bad, quite undeserved for the most part. Which is not to say that I feel for the skins, because quite apart from the racism thing, they certainly don't seem too concerned with de-muddying their image.

And I'm letting this be my own little review. LINK HERE to the story by a local guy for our local alternative newsweekly, no names I'm afraid unless you read the story. But I was also fortunate to see the writer at the show and thank him for the piece.

So, I can rearrange my Myspace profile and move some of the bands from my top friends in order to make it all about people I really know in real life as well as the ever present derby. I can also start making plans to make plans for next year.

yellow

It's high time I gave you another Ska Weekend band post. This band is kind of special to me, one of the first bands I got into as I got into the ska.

For those who don't know, who haven't read any of the other crap I've typed out on the subject, I'll give you a quick bit of ska history. Seriously, it will be quick as we're just glossing over the formative years and going straight to America, again.

American jazz and R&B on the radio was picked up in Jamaica and became popular alongside the music that was already popular. The two were worked together and became ska. Time went on, varieties of ska came about, and people traveled. The sound was carried to England and became a whole 'nother thing, became popularish for a time and faded. Then, a few years passed and some American kids started playing it, and some of them mixed their punk aesthetic in. Along came what we know of as the third wave of ska.

Mustard Plug was one of the bands that got me into ska. They played pretty hard and fast, almost sometimes slipping a little metal something into the guitars while playing an extremely upbeat version of almost traditional ska. It's really hard to describe. Mustard Plug have been around for years now, and they don't seem to have lost anything. They played Ska Weekend last year and will be returning this year. I'd guess both my regular readers haven't heard them, and now you can. This is from a new album I don't have.



That's not enough? You'd like to watch an older song? This one is from the album that made me fall in love in the first place.

more rockin' out

In my continuing efforts to blog about as many ska bands as I can find on YouTube that I will also soon be seeing at Ska Weekend, I present The Hits. These guys are local to me and are, in the video below, playing the Longbranch, the place that hosted our last derby after party. It's a nice little place, and they finally started taking cards, so you don't have to hit the ATM on the way.

I don't really know much about The Hits. I've missed them the few times when they've played around town that I noticed. Being old, having children, suddenly you don't get to get out and do the things that were once common, like seeing live bands.

You can check them out on their Myspace page HERE, though they currently only have one song up. The sound is good on the Myspace page, though it's really rough in the video. However, from the video you can get a feel for the energy they seem to bring, and a good ska show really hinges on the energy the band brings. They are definitely one of the bands I'll be checking out when Ska Weekend finally rolls around. So enjoy!

LMLC

I promised a couple of weeks ago to post videos and talk with heart full of love about the ska bands that I'll be seeing in a couple of months. I'm antsy as is possible looking forward to this show, Ska Weekend, when our town hosts an easy metric shit ton of bands from all over the country and even a couple from outside our borders.

Tonight's band is one I haven't heard offline. I don't yet own any of their music, but having listened at Myspace and having camped out at YouTube, I've come to really look forward to Last Martyrs of a Lost Cause, and it's not just because the singer is kind of really hot.

I've found a number of videos of them on the Tube, and none of them are spectacular quality sound wise, but they do show you the band's style, more ska-punk than ska, and they do give one a feel for the band. I'm excited to see them, as I'm excited to see all the bands that will be playing. So click the play button, turn it up and rock the fuck out already people!

Last Martyrs of a Lost Cause, Don't Take it Personal

first in a series

Just under three months and counting, toward the end of August, hopefully without the rain this time, me and the wife and the boys will be shaking our asses at Ska Weekend. It's a li'l ol' local show this feller puts on every year, and each year it gets bigger. If you are into the ska music at all or if you live close enough or if you just need an excuse for a road trip, Ska Weekend is well worth attending. It's a lovely all day (not actually the whole weekend) outdoor ska music festival in one of the neatest parts of town.

Look for a running theme between now and then and more posts as I mine this for post fodder, and listen as you learn about some new bands playing. I'll try not to give a long boring history lesson about ska music or my theory that ska's origination would also eventually birth the beginnings of hip hop. I just might though.

Ska Weekend of course has a Myspace page. Momma and I, preparing for Ska Weekend '06, spent several nights at the page checking out the different bands. We knew upon arrival at Ska Weekend which bands to make a point of seeing and which bands not to bother with. There really are that many bands, and when your kids are 3 and 7, you would do well to plan your music festivals out ahead of time.

One of the bands we found last year is returning this year. They've got a new album out, which we haven't gotten yet, though we do love the one we do have. And Big Brother's favorite song, the one he sings for two or three days after hearing the album is also the dirty song, though he doesn't have any idea. That's neither here nor there, but it is funny, sort of.

Deals Gone Bad are from Chicago and according to their My Space page,

mix the chugging rhythms of Jamaica, the energy and emotion of American Motown, and the over the-top pub/rock of the Pogues

I don't dispute that description, and quoting them is easier than describing it myself. They were a highlight of last year's show and promise to do the same again. They remain with the must see bands, and to prove my point, watch the video.