This week the Bad Time Records Tour made their SoCal stop. They would have their Los Angeles show in Echo Park at the respected Echo venue. From helping in crowd participation, to skanking during intermissions; the LA crowd showed up and showed off, proving they have one of the liveliest ska scenes today.
Bad Time locals would step up as opening acts for the 3 full-touring bands throughout the tour. For the West Coast run, it was Orange County’s Half Past Two, who opened tonight’s show. There was already a big turnout with people already dancing when they kicked the night off with ‘Talk is Killing Me’. Lead singer Tara dressed as glamorous as ever, showing off a new haircut. Multiple band members like bassist Eric and trombonist Luis had the chance to jump into the pit as well. Half Past Two was a great choice to open the show; they know how to get the crowd moving and love to experiment, like they did tonight. They usually end their sets with horn-driven song ‘Shine’, but opted instead to close with ‘Dominoes’, another fan favorite. The crowd loved it. The OC vets set the bar high for the following bands.
Next up would be Kill Lincoln from Washington D.C., fresh from a trip to Disneyland. When it comes to energy, they picked up right where Half Past Two left, starting with my favorite song ‘I’m Fine (I Lied)’. I couldn’t resist and jumped into the pit, where the fire was already burning hot and bright. The ska punk group had a lot of circle pits songs that were very horn-driven. Bass player CJ was super fun to watch as he ran across the stage and moving his body back and forth like those inflatables at a car dealership. (I’m sorry, that’s the best way I can describe it!). I also have to ask for the cardio routine for hype man Drew, who danced, jumped, and skank for literally the entire set. Their grand finale? Trombonist Ume getting on top a photo booth and crowd surfing for ‘Pralines & Dick’. Kill Lincoln had a unique take on the sound of 3rd wave ska that makes them one of the leading figures of the New Tone movement. I highly recommend that people go out of their way to see this band.
Speaking of New Tone, New Orleans’s Bad Operation brought their coined ‘New Tone’ back to SoCal. Matching in black Dickies jumpsuits, the band leaned a lot more to the ska/rocksteady sounds of the night, opening with another favorite song that got me dancing in the pit, ‘Kinda Together’. After two animated sets it would be tough to follow, but Bad Operation is on the hype train for their upcoming sophomore album and kept the energy going with new songs such as ‘Rico” and ‘Free Dom’. When D-Ray wasn’t on keys (or trombone), he was headbanging and keeping the crowd excited, even crowd surfing during Robert’s drum solo. JER and saxophonist Emily would hop on horns for the last few songs that included their album-titled track, ‘Perilous’ and closing song ‘Bagel Rooks’. Singer Dom was able to get the crowd to sing the chorus for ‘Bad Operation’, which I thought was super cool. His vocal skills, as well as his guitar skills, were both super impressive and a pleasure to watch within itself. The band overall was able to deliver and got me even more excited to hear their new album.
Lastly, closing the show was JER from Gainesville. A lot of people in the crowd came to see specifically JER and were not disappointed. The lineup usually rotates since their start in 2021, but the current lineup has been their most stable. They played a lot of songs from their new album, opening with ‘The Way You Tune It Out’, also playing ‘I’m Still Bothered’ and ‘Capitalism Breeds Devastation’, which featured an impressive trombone solo from Robert. While singer Jer is super entertaining, even theatrical to watch, they are also politically conscious with their songs and unapologetically call out a number of issues and political figures. Jer’s monologue before playing ‘What Will You Do?’ is powerful and sets the mood for the song, showing their anger that the crowd responded to well. The transition from that song into ‘Say Gay or Say Goodnight’ was also really cool. The set also featured a mini-reunion for ska band Matamoska!, when saxophonist AJ hopped on with fellow members Robert (trombone) and Esteban (keys) for ‘I’d Like to be Better’. Their drummer Savannah also played drums for Half Past Two, which I want to shout out since that seems like a really hard thing to do. Their closing song was their debut album fan favorite ‘Sparkle’, that had probably the biggest circle pit of the night. JER used their set to spread a lot of love for people and the music they were playing and it really showed by the end of the night.
In a time where the LA ska scene is troubled with mistrust and low morale, this was a refreshing reassurance that there is still love for the community and that as long as people look out for each other, the music won’t die out. The Bad Time show was a lot more important to the people of LA than what it seems. As someone deep in the LA ska scene, I’m inspired to spread the love that I felt at this show.