Jacob Wake Up!

Jacob Wake Up! is managing editor of Boston Ska (dot) net. He's been going to ska shows since high school and never looked back. Jake lives in Roslindale and works in communications by day. You can see him perform with The New Limits or strike up conversation with him at a local ska show.

Big D and The Kids Table Release Video for “Best of Them All”

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big d damned dumb and deliriousWe’re a bit late to the party here, but we’d be remissed not to mention the latest Big D and The Kids Table video for “Best of Them All.” The song is off their summer 2011 release For the Damned, the Dumb & The Delirious on SideOnedummy Records. I generally dug the record. It was very much in the vein of “How It Goes” or “Strictly Rude.” Dying Scene has a pretty thorough review. Midway into raising money for their new record on Kickstarter (much more on that later), Big D released this video as a reward/incentive to backers. Similarly, they released a pretty cool video for “Rotten” from the same record exclusively to backers and then made that public (though I couldn’t find it on YouTube or Vimeo).

Check the video below. Take a drink every time you recognize someone from the Have Nots. Cheers!

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[Show Recap] The Toasters Bring the Party!

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Here at Boston Ska (dot) net, we go to shows so you don’t have to! Kidding. You should totally go to shows. Because sometimes they’re totally awesome like last weekend’s show at TT The Bear’s with The Toasters, All Good Feel Good Collective, Mrs Skannotto, John DeCarlo & Company.

When we spoke to Bucket, the lead singer of The Toasters, prior to the show, he said that Boston was The Toaster’s new east coast home, and the east coast for home. Anyone at the show would have confirmed it was just that! I got there on the early side, ran into old friends, and made some new friends before the music had even started.

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The Toasters Call Boston Home, Perform at TT The Bear’s March 1

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20120301 toasters tt the bearsThey bill themselves these days as “The Longest Running U.S. Ska Band,” but I always think of them as “The Hardest Working Band in Ska.” The Toasters have been doing what they’ve been doing for 33 year years, touring nationally and internationally, and few others in this world can say that.

This Friday, they play at TT The Bear’s in Cambridge. I was able to have a few words with Rob “Bucket” Hingley, lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter for the band, and founder of Moon Ska Records (1983-200) and Megalith Records (est. 2002).

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Presidents’ Day News Round Up

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Got yesterday off? Lucky bastard. Had to work? Hopefully this helps you ease into your week. (I meant to post this yesterday but I went to go see Django and that thing is like 7 hours long. My bad.)

  • Big D and the Kids Table ran a Kickstarter campaign to fund their new record(s). It got funded! But they’re going to fund it themselves anyways? I’m confused.
  • Record Store Day is April 20. Mark your calendars and find a record store or two to get to that day.
  • From the rumor mill: Westbound Train considers recording a cover record! Kidding…
  • Didn’t make it to Johnny D’s for The Pomps and Riki Rocksteady on 2/2? Mark Stern Photography took some great shots of the night.
  • I caught The Slackers in Northampton at Pearl Street on 2/2. The were great and I found some video, posted below the jump.
  • I also had the chance to talk to Bucket from The Toasters about they’re upcoming show at TT The Bear’s. Watch for that post later this week!
  • Are you on Instagram? Tag your photos with #bostonska. Looks like folks have been doing it, but here’s a friendly reminder to keep it up!
  • As always, check out the show calendar! Riki Rocksteady, SuperSka, The Allstonians, Brunt of It, and A Guy Named Guy all have gigs.

The Slackers played one of my favorite songs, “Lazy Woman,” but rarely do they play it live, and that’s okay. BUT someone yelled it out and they played it!

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A Guy Named Guy Heads on Tour This May

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a guy named guyBoston’s own A Guy Named Guy will be heading out on tour this May! They’ve got some dates filled in but looks like they could use a hand. Do you know a band or venue in one of the towns below? If so, get on the horn and get back at AGNG.

Don’t know anyone in those towns and want to be supportive? Follow them tumblr, twitter, bandcamp, youtube, or facebook, and like/retweet/reblog/etc when they post.

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Review: Reel Big Fish, Pilfers, and Dan Potthast at House of Blues

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Reel Big Fish poses for the cover of Beer Magazine.

Do you remember how cold it was Sunday night? It was freezing. But I was going to a show. Which meant I had to strategically layer up. Coat check at the House of Blues doesn’t come cheap and they don’t let you stack items on one hanger. It was also a Sunday night show with 6pm doors. I was pretty nervous it would be one of those shows that starts before everyone arrives and ends nice and early to get the club crowd in. So there I was standing in the freezing cold, not wearing quite enough winter gear, waiting in line to get into the venue at 5:45. By the time I got into the show, I was less than thrilled to be there.

Dan Potthast (Mu330, Dan P and the Bricks, The Stitch Up) was the perfect opener. It was just him on his guitar playing 1 to 2-minute ska/punk tunes. They were catchy, they were clever, and he had the audience. Which is to say he heckled the audience way better than they heckled him. I wish I caught video of that. Particularly he had a great tune  I’m not super fluent in his material, but I clearly recognized KKK Highway.

He told the audience that he wrote a tune for each night of the tour. I was able to catch his Boston tune on my phone:

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January 2012 News Round Up

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big d kickstarter ad

And like that, January is halfway over and I’ve been slacking! I’ve got a stack of stuff I’ve been meaning to blog about. Here’s the lite version:

Brunt of It plays at the Middle East Upstairs on February 22 with The Blue Bloods, Dead Friends, A Common Goal, and Penalty Kill. Tickets are 18 and the show is 18+. Brunt of It most recently released All Aboard the Cannabus this past December, available on Bandcamp. See more shows at the calendar.

Brunt of It was also recently added as support to the upcoming Fishbone show at the Sinclair on March 3.

big d kickstarter adBig D and the Kids Table will be joining Warped Tour 2013. They’ve also been dropping some not-so-subtle hints that they’re ready to record a new record and might have a Kickstarter for you to fund.

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