The GardenAmp hosted the Ska Smackdown on January 18. Featuring sets from ten bands in six hours, the show was a celebration of old faves, local faves, and new blood within the genre. There were enough trumpets, trombones, and saxophones to make this the horny-est (rim shot) show I’ve ever been to.
The show started in the Locker Room, an intimate smaller stage within the GardenAmp that holds about one hundred people. The low-lit room has a graffiti mural that reads “CAN’T BE STOPPED” on one wall and a bar and green room on the opposite side. The walls are lined with framed concert posters of some big names in all genres of music that have played at the GardenAmp. The stage has a few strobe lights above it and a collage of what looks like concert flyers on the wall behind it.
Trucha opened the show in the Locker Room with an instrumental that got the crowd moving, and then went into their cover of the Misfits’ “Hybrid Moments.” This is probably one of my favorite arrangements of a Misfits song. The setlist was very similar to when they opened for Bite Me Bambi back in August. They’ve narrowed their sound a bit more which is more dancey, but also played some punkier songs towards the end of their set. They’ve been practicing and sound tighter, but they didn’t need much as they sound great. Hopefully they can get some songs released soon; Trucha are definitely a band to keep an eye on.
The Goodwin Club had the biggest amount of people on the stage for the night, which is saying a lot for a ska show. They had an extended horn section that included three trumpets, three trombones, and one saxophone. Everyone in the band was clad in Karate Kid / Cobra Kai costumes, ranging from Daniel LaRusso’s shower costume to skeleton jumpsuits to the famous black and yellow dojogis worn by the members of Cobra Kai. The Goodwin Club was a good choice to open a big fun night of ska bands. Singer Tami Demaree had lost her voice and did her best to get through a set including their songs “Little Girl” and “Join the Club,” but also covers of Operation Ivy’s “Sound System” and Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off.” This was my second time seeing them and their confetti shooters during their set, and it was just as fun as the first.
As the GardenAmp filled up with more people, it became increasingly harder to get to the Locker Room to see the bands on the smaller stage. They were scheduled between sets of the bands on the bigger stage, but set times were stacked pretty tight. Most of the time they were starting as the band on the big stage was finishing. It was apparent I would miss some of those bands’ sets. The Ruffalos were the first of those bands. When I walked in, they were doing a cover of Snoop Dogg’s “Nothing But A ‘G’ Thang.” Some of their other songs had a bit of a spooky feel to them. Two singers traded back and forth. They reminded me a bit of very early Rx Bandits with some Sublime thrown in. They closed with a song about Samuel Jackson which, of course, had the word “motherfucker” in it.
Half Past Two was next on the main stage. Purple-haired singer Tara Hahn danced through a fun ska punk set. Laying claim to her Orange County ska bona fides by playing their song “Heather,” which describes her friend who would take her to the legendary Chain Reaction in Anaheim. I hadn’t paid too much attention to Half Past Two previously when I saw them open for the Aquabats a year or so back, but I wish I had. The band announced they would be playing a show at the venue in May of this year. It may be a good excuse to go to the Chain Reaction.
Buck-O-Nine got the pit moving pretty quickly with fans alternating dancing and slamming through their ska punk set. Their set included the songs “Calling in Sick,” “Fever,” and their radio hit, “My Town.” When I saw them last summer, it was a family event, and they weren’t able to play “Irish Drinking Song” or their cover of Musical Youth’s “Pass the Dutchie,” but while there were families at this show, it wasn’t a family show. It was during this set where I saw people walking into the pit with a coffee cup. It’s a “bold” move, but the world is full of “bold” people.
Mustard Plug came out and played an energetic set. They brought a beach ball out that the crowd spiked around the venue and at the band, who continued to hit back out into the crowd. Playing a mix of songs of old favorites like “Not Enough” and “Vampire” and new song “Fall Apart,” the crowd went crazy for them. Their set contained a cover of Fugazi‘s “Waiting Room.” I didn’t know horns could make that song better, but it does. It was no surprise that veterans of the scene can play so well and keep the crowd’s attention after a long night of bands. They closed their set with “Brain on Ska” (their 2057th time playing it) and the “Beer” song.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to catch too much of Hooray Our Side’s set. I did catch them doing a cover of “Margaritaville,” which sounded pretty good as far as Jimmy Buffett covers go. It was the same for Codename: Rocky. By the time they went on, it was so close to the end of the night it was the choice of watching all of their set or getting a good spot for Mustard Plug and the Voodoo Glow Skulls. This also caused me to completely miss all of Matamoska‘s set.
Finally, it was time for the main event, the Voodoo Glow Skulls. It’s been at least ten years since I had seen them as a band and close to twenty since I’ve seen them with Frank singing. Nothing against Efrem as he held his own during his stint as singer of the band well, but it’s great to have all three Casillas brothers on stage. The beginning of the set was very heavy on their album, Band Geek Mafia, with tracks “Human Pinata,” “Misunderstood,” “Delinquent Song,” and “They Always Come Back.” The next section of the set was very focused mostly on songs from Firme, but also managed to slip in the song “Insubordination” from their first record Who Is, This Is? After playing a couple of songs in Spanish, “El Mas Chingon” and “El Coo Cooi,” the band closed with “Voodoo Anthem.” They sounded fantastic. Fast and intense, but still keeping with those horns reserved for the soundtrack of nightmares—I mean that in the best way.
It was definitely a positive vibe. The venue was pretty lax on security. There either wasn’t any or they didn’t care people were jumping on the stage for the most part. It was almost like they let the crowd self-police, and everything was fine. Which is weird because I legit saw like three fights at the Fishbone concert last month. There seemed to be more people dancing compared to the potent untethered energy of the Fishbone crowd. That crowd took themselves a little too seriously.
Everyone here was out to have fun. There was lots of crowd surfing with a few close calls, but everyone was caught before they hit the ground. It was strange to see kids climb and point where they were jumping to make sure they would be caught then waiting until everyone below agreed. The scene has changed a lot since I was their age. Punks, metalheads, ska kids, luchadors, people dressed as produce (one banana and one pickle) came out and united to have a fun night of music. Here’s hoping there are many more Ska Smackdowns.
*Editor’s note: In a previous version of this story, Half Past Two’s Tara Hahn was identified as having pink hair. She does, in fact, have purple hair. We apologize for the miscommunication.*
