Reel Big Recap

I may have mentioned this last week, but the first time I saw Reel Big Fish was November 2000. I was 18 years old and super pumped to see my favorite band in concert. My then-girlfriend and I got to the House of Blues in Myrtle Beach two hours before the doors even opened.

We were among the first in line. When the doors opened, we sprinted to the front and lined up right up against the stage. Catch 22 played, but I don't remember the other two bands.

Anyway, being right up against the stage meant I was constantly on the edge of the mosh pit, which I've always thought was funny at ska shows, but they're there nonetheless. I didn't find it quite as moronic when I was a moronic 18-year-old.

I am less enthused about them now, which is just another way of saying, "I'm getting too old for this shit." If you've never been to the 9:30 Club, the lower level is open, and the second level has a balcony around the sides and the back. With smallish venues, you don't need to be super close to get a nice view of the stage.

So when the doors opened I ran upstairs and got a spot directly in the center of the balcony. All of that is to say I was close enough to see everything I wanted to see, but too far away for acceptable pictures since I was taking them with my Blackberry. I did take a few video clips with it, and they turned out surprisingly OK, but they're short because my battery kept threatening to die.

What can you do.

Anyway. This was my 10th Reel Big Fish show (twice in DC, twice in Charlotte, twice in Atlanta, twice in Norfolk, once in Winston-Salem and once in Myrtle Beach), and I'd say it easily ranks as the best one I've seen. They played a solid mix of all of my favorites, including some songs I hadn't heard live in nine or 10 years.

RBF and Streetlight Manifesto were co-headlining this tour, which means they were alternating who played last at each stop. I got lucky here because RBF played last, and they played for a solid hour and 45 minutes.

The new guy is Matt Appleton, a sax player who was in Goldfinger previously. I have to say, he nails the newly departed Scott's vocal harmonies perfectly, but the show just isn't the same without the witty banter between Scott and Aaron. Aaron still jokes with Dan (the only other guy on stage who's been in the band for longer than five years at this point) and a couple other guys, and it's still funny. But you know. Scott was always my favorite.

Still, great show. Thanks to my brother, Matthew P., for serving as my notepad during the show. I BBMed him the setlist as they played so I would have it for later, as well as a few notes I didn't want to forget. He wanted to be there anyway, so it was a nice way for him to live vicariously through my BBMs.

They opened with "Everything Sucks," which is such a great song to open the show. It's immediately clear what song it is when the drummer hits the opening tom shots, so the crowd goes crazy. And then the horns kick in. Really gets everyone jumping. They played "Sell Out," "Beer" and "Take on Me" as the encore songs. So, so good.

A few notes about the videos I managed to get: first, I am relieved you cannot hear me singing on them. Because I most certainly was singing as loudly as I can. Like you do. Second, sorry if they're a little bouncy because I was also dancing while I was recording. Of course I was. I think I did a pretty good job making sure it stayed at least a little steady.

And third, sorry the clips are so short. The battery was running dangerously low, and I didn't want to record too terribly long. And also, I wanted to stop recording so I could go back to singing and dancing. So there's that.

Here's the set list (with videos embedded when I have them):

Everything Sucks
Trendy
The Kids Don't Like It
In the Pit
Ban the Tube Top
Down in Flames
Why Do All Girls Think They're Fat
She Has a Girlfriend Now
Good Thing
Your Guts (I Hate 'em)
Slow Down
Brown Eyed Girl



Where Have You Been
Cannibal
Join the Club
Say "Ten"
The Set Up
Sayonara Senorita
SR (regular, punk, disco, country, metal)
Another FU Song
Sell Out



Beer



Take on Me



So there you go! It was just an awesome, awesome show. I think the whole ska thing really appeals to the inner band geek in me -- especially the live shows. When that wall of brass horn sound hits you at a show and they start hitting their high notes...whew. Gives me the chills man. It's just so hard not to dance around and have a good time. Love it.

Some other notes! Before they played "Brown Eyed Girl," Aaron had a little schtick for the crowd. "If you've been to a Reel Big Fish show before, you know we have many, many, many, many, many, many hit songs...(pause, crowd screams)...hold your applause...that we cover." Hey oh.

After they played "Why Do All Girls Think They're Fat," which I'm happy to say I recommended to you last week, Aaron explained, "that song was recorded on our very first record 'Everything Sucks' and then again on the 'Everything Sucks' major label issue, and then again on the 'Keep Your Receipt' EP and then again a couple other places and then we rerecorded it for our 2007 record "Monkeys for Nothing and the Chimps for Free," so I can understand why you might have a hard time finding that one."

"These are the jokes, kids."

So yeah. The 9:30 Club had signs up asking departing concert-goers to be respectful of the neighborhood and try to keep it down. And yet, the club was playing "Sweet Caroline" as we were leaving. Now, you can disagree about whether or not the song is any good, but you cannot disagree that it's a song people will sing and sing loudly.

So I thought that was an interesting decision -- asking people to try to be quiet as they played "Sweet Caroline." I don't make the decisions.

Excellent day all around. I'll probably only post today and Thursday this week. I know you're heartbroken. Crazy week keeps on truckin'.

LET'S GO!

-BG