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by
Larry Boytano |
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Grab
your porkpie hat, dancing shoes, a few beers (or course),
and get ready to relive an invasion. That's right South Florida
hepcats, for one night it will feel like it's 1997 when clubland
was in the middle of a ska gold rush. And there's no better
band in the land to grab your dancing shoes for than the outfit
that helped start it all-the Toasters.
The prime mover of ska's third wave, which began around the
mid 80s and peaked about ten years later is coming to town-again.
Robert "Bucket" Hingley is credited with jumpstarting
the ska movement in New York City with his band the Toasters
and the record label that he founded, Moon Ska. Nearly 20
years after the Toasters' first release, Hingley, the lone
remaining original player, finds himself once again carry
the ska torch into South Florida.
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Hingley
started his ska mission soon after moving from his native England
to New York in 1981. Two years later the Toasters released their
first single, Beat Up. That same year Hingley formed the Moon Ska
label, and thus started the ripples that revived the second wave
2-Tone movement, and eventually birthed the third-wave ska campaign
that readily marched throughout South Florida well into in the latter
90s.
By the mid 90s in South Florida, a weekend wouldn't go by without
a ska show. "We had one of the biggest ska scenes in the country,
if not the biggest," former promoter and radio personality
Bob Slade says about ska's heyday in South Florida. Slade, who now
lives in New Orleans, estimates that his company, Nightflyer, staged
well over 100 ska shows between 1995 and 1999. An average show held
at Squeeze or the Edge (now the Chili Pepper) attracted about 500
people. Larger shows like 1998's Skapocalypse Now staged at the
Edge, and the Ska Against Racism Tour the same year at Sunrise attracted
over 1500 revelers-all without the benefit of commercial radio,
or major record labels.
Slade says that there were a few simple reasons why the music was
so popular: Great bands, great songs, good venues, support from
the local press and independent radio stations, virtually no security
problems, and affordable shows that usually cost around ten bucks.
So prepare to get those hips a giggin' to the band that busted out
classics discs such as 1987's Skaboom, the following year's Thrill
Me Up, 1990's This Gun For Hire, 96's 2-Tone Army, and Don't Let
the Bastards Grind You Down in 1997. The Toasters perform with Corky,
and Bum Ruckus Saturday, April 14, at Freez, 909 E Cypress Creek
Rd, Fort Lauderdale, 954-771-3008. Tickets are $10. All ages welcome.
And speaking of grinding down, just about everything has come to
a sudden halt at Millennium (4301 N. Federal Hwy, Pompano Beach,
954-788-2345). Most people think that they just went out of business.
And by all appearances that's the case. But speaking from Boston,
former manager and soon to be manager again Matt Gleason says that
the club is just taking a break and sticking with just one party
for a few months until he can get down here.
No one told promoter Grant Hall about that. "I found out the
hard way that they weren't open," Hall says over the phone
a little perplexed. Hall had numerous shows booked at the club,
and moved them all to Ovation (3637 S. Federal Hwy, Boynton Beach,
561-740-7076). All tickets for the Millennium location will be honored.
Here are the April shows that got moved: Millencolin, 4/4; Hatebreed,
4/11; Bouncing Souls, 4/12; Dashboard Confessional, 4/17; Face to
Face, 4/26.
The Fetish Factory party held the second Saturday of every month
is the only party that Millennium will open for. If you don't feel
like snaking around in your latex with about 800 other sexy freaks
at that bash, then checkout the Fetish Factory's other more intimate
gig, Alter Ego, at Aqua Lounge (21065 Powerline Rd, A-4, Boca Raton,
561-482-9770) the fourth Saturday of every month. For other Fetish
Factory events, stop by their web site: Fetish-Factory.com.
Aqua Lounge is the latest creation from the folks behind defunct
speakeasies such as Club Boca, B-Bar, and Emerald City. Other steady
soirŽes that Aqua hosts besides Alter Ego are a College night
on Wednesday featuring free drinks until 11:00 p.m., and an R&B/reggae
night hosted by 99 Jams on Friday. When the Fetish Factory isn't
holding court on Saturday, it's the Abyss with rotating themes.
You can wet your whistle in this place until 5:00 a.m.
Across town in Boca is yet another new face on the nocturnal landscape,
Hush Lounge (99 SE 1st Ave., 561-361-7244). Conveniently located within
walking distance to Guppy's and Bud Murphy's, Hush offers a much flashier
ambience than its two neighbors, and a place to dance, but it's still
chill on the attitude. In the former Polyesters location, the interior
is now a mix of psychedelic colors and metal trim. Outlining the main
room are two VIP areas and as many bars. There's also the Garden of
Eden, which is an outdoor patio with a separate bar and DJ. Throughout
the week their lineup includes a College night on Tuesday with gratis
drinks until 11:00 p.m., and other drink specials until close; a Thursday
International night, then a weekend groove fest with house and trance
courtesy of DJ Sal Boom. Even though Hush is within spitting distance
of Guppy's and Bud Murphy's (another dive), you have to look the part
to show up at this joint, and they cut the lights at 2:00 a.m. - this
is, after all, Boca proper. |
