Genre: Ska

14
Nov
2023
The English Beat

The English Beat

 

BAG POLICY

Bags (max size 12″ x 6″ x 12″) are allowed and will be searched upon entry. Exceptions will be made for necessary medical equipment and bags for nursing mothers. We encourage you to pack light with only the necessities to make the entry process as smooth as possible.

PAYMENT POLICY

We are a cashless facility meaning that we are unable to accept cash as a form of payment. Our Box Office and Coat Check will only accept credit and debit. Our Bars will only accept credit, debit, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. Please note that artist merchandise sales are separate and may still accept cash.

 

One tempestuous weekend in March 1979 was not only the date of the Three Mile Island nuclear incident, but also, in Birmingham, England, the very first show by a nascent band known as The Beat. Introduced as “the hottest thing since the Pennsylvania meltdown”, the band had a sense that the next few years could well be explosive! The Beat hailed from working class, industrial Birmingham, England. When The Beat rushed on to the music scene in 1979, it was a time of social, political and musical upheaval. Into this storm came The Beat, trying to calm the waters with their simple message of love and unity set to a great dance beat.

The Beat were all about inclusion, rather than exclusion, and this showed in their personnel and their music influences. The original band consisted of Dave Wakeling on vocals and guitar, Andy Cox on guitar, David Steele on bass, and Everett Morton on drums – later additions Ranking Roger (toasting) and foundational First Wave Ska legend Saxa (saxophone) completed the outfit. The band crossed over fluidly between soul, reggae, pop and punk, and from these disparate pieces they created an infectious dance rhythm. Along with their contemporaries The Specials, The Selecter, and Madness, the band became an overnight sensation and one of the most popular and influential bands of the British Two Tone Ska movement.

By Christmas of 1979, The Beat were riding high in the UK charts with their first single, a smoking remake of the classic Smokey Robinson tune Tears of a Clown. Over the course of the next five years The Beat toured relentlessly and released three studio albums: I Just Can’t Stop It, Wh’appen, and Special Beat Service. The band toured the world, touring with such artists as David Bowie, The Police, REM, The Clash, The Talking Heads, The Pretenders, and The Specials, to name but a few. The Beat kept scoring hits with tunes that have now become so popular that it’s hard to remember a time when they didn’t exist, such as Mirror in the Bathroom, Save it for Later, I Confess, Stand Down Margaret, and their serene cover of the Andy William penned Can’t Get Used To Losing You.

Despite their huge success, The Beat continued singing about and acting on the problems we all face. They donated all the profits from their highly successful single version of Stand Down Margaret to the Committee for Nuclear Disarmament. They donated their music to causes including the anti-nuclear benefit album Life in The European Theatre, The World of Music and Dance album focusing on indigenous people’s art, and lent their voices to The Special AKA’s anthemic freedom cry Free Nelson Mandela, to name but a few.

Dave Wakeling once told me that every great band only has three really good albums. And true to form, The Beat decided to call it quits after their third album, Special Beat Service. Of course, that was not the last we would hear from the Beat boys.

After The Beat, Dave Wakeling formed General Public with his mate Roger. The band took off quickly, scoring numerous hits off the their three studio albums, including Tenderness, So Hot You’re Cool, Never You Done That, Come Again, Too Much or Nothing, and I’ll Take You There. Dave’s good looks and soulful crooning combined brilliantly with Roger’s gravelly toasting, high intensity showmanship and upful beat, and GP took the critics and fans by storm. While Dave was penning hits Stateside, Andy Cox and David Steele were putting their own band together. Andy and David placed an ad for a singer on MTv, and received an extraordinary gift, in the form of one Roland Gift. With Roland onboard, the Fine Young Cannibals was formed and right from the release of their first single Johnny Come Home, the band was a hit. Their two studio albums scored multiple hit singles, with tunes such as She Drives Me Crazy and Good Thing becoming instant classics. Not being slackers either, Saxa and Everett Morton put together their own band, International Beat, blending modern pop with traditional Jamaican rhythms to form a wonderful hybrid sound. International Beat toured around the world and released two live albums, including cameos from Dave and Roger.

Combined, all these bands scored multi-platinum record sales, sold out shows all over the world, and, most importantly, universal fan approval because they kept The Beat alive!

That ember was nursed back into a roaring flame in February 2003, when a dream came true for many Beat fans as the band reunited for a UK tour, culminating in a sold out command performance at the prestigious Royal Festival Hall! It was a wonderful night for the band and their fans.

Consummate showman that he is, Dave Wakeling has continued to keep The Beat alive and strong. How could he not? Dave continues to tour the world as The English Beat with an amazing all-star ska backing band playing all the hits of The Beat, General Public, and his new songs.

You just can’t stop The Beat!

26
Jun
2023
POSTPONED: 40 oz to Freedom<br>Sublime Tribute

POSTPONED: 40 oz to Freedom
Sublime Tribute

 
This event has been postponed. Stay tuned for information on the new date.
 

BAG POLICY

Bags (max size 12″ x 6″ x 12″) are allowed and will be searched upon entry. Exceptions will be made for necessary medical equipment and bags for nursing mothers. We encourage you to pack light with only the necessities to make the entry process as smooth as possible.

PAYMENT POLICY

We are a cashless facility meaning that we are unable to accept cash as a form of payment. Our Box Office and Coat Check will only accept credit and debit. Our Bars will only accept credit, debit, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. Please note that artist merchandise sales are separate and may still accept cash.

 

‘40oz to Freedom’ is an accomplished and highly energetic Sublime tribute band and winner of the 2010 San Diego Music Award for Best Tribute Artist.

40oz has toured the entire US, Canada, and Mexico for more than 16 years, amassing a loyal and enthusiastic following. They are authentically the closest thing to Sublime, since Sublime. 40oz was founded in SoCal in 2007 and is currently based in Denver, CO.

05
Jun
2023
Weaker Youth Ensemble

Weaker Youth Ensemble

 

BAG POLICY

Bags (max size 12″ x 6″ x 12″) are allowed and will be searched upon entry. Exceptions will be made for necessary medical equipment and bags for nursing mothers. We encourage you to pack light with only the necessities to make the entry process as smooth as possible.

PAYMENT POLICY

We are a cashless facility meaning that we are unable to accept cash as a form of payment. Our Box Office and Coat Check will only accept credit and debit. Our Bars will only accept credit, debit, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. Please note that artist merchandise sales are separate and may still accept cash.

 

Weaker Youth Ensemble formed in August of 1991 in Madison, WI, bonding over a mutual love for 2-Tone and traditional ska. The band built a regional following playing throughout the Midwest, and DIY released a s/t record in January 1994. Weaker Youth also appeared on two nationally distributed compilations, American Skathic on Jump Up! Records, and Skarmageddon, a Moon Records release.

01
Jun
2023
Bumpin Uglies

Bumpin Uglies

 

BAG POLICY

Bags (max size 12″ x 6″ x 12″) are allowed and will be searched upon entry. Exceptions will be made for necessary medical equipment and bags for nursing mothers. We encourage you to pack light with only the necessities to make the entry process as smooth as possible.

PAYMENT POLICY

We are a cashless facility meaning that we are unable to accept cash as a form of payment. Our Box Office and Coat Check will only accept credit and debit. Our Bars will only accept credit, debit, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. Please note that artist merchandise sales are separate and may still accept cash.

 

Bumpin Uglies knows all about hustle. The Maryland reggae-rock band had spent more than a decade on the road, starting with local open mics and backyard parties and growing into road warriors, building an ever-expanding audience with sold-out shows in clubs and prime spots at festivals from coast to coast, on one national tour after another. Then the pandemic hit, and touring shut down.

After being in motion for so long, singer and lead guitarist Brandon Hardesty wasn’t about to sit still, even if he couldn’t be out on tour. In fact, Bumpin Uglies never really stopped working — they adapted. The group returned to playing backyard parties around Annapolis, where they’re based, and added socially distanced concerts and full-band livestreams. In the fall of 2020, they also started releasing a new song every month as part of a project called the Never Ending Drop.

“We felt like prospectors going out and trying to find gold — it was just uncharted territory,” Hardesty says. “We had to figure out a way to make a living. That’s kind of what being a musician during Covid has felt like to me. You can do it, but you have to be bold.”

Hardesty has been bold from the start. He was waiting tables when he started the band in his early 20s. With an ear for melodies and the determination to succeed, he poured his time and energy into making Bumpin Uglies a success. For years, the band did just about everything themselves, from booking shows to releasing their own albums, building a sense of momentum along the way that eventually became self-sustaining, and then Hardesty wasn’t waiting tables anymore.

No surprise, then, that a musician with his strong work ethic found a way to take maximum advantage of the sudden surplus of time at home. For one thing, he got to hang out with his toddler son, and he and his wife welcomed a new baby. He also wrote a ton of songs. For the first time, Hardesty approached songwriting as a discipline, dedicating time to working on new music rather than waiting for inspiration to strike and then jotting down ideas in the back of the Bumpin Uglies van on his way from one gig to the next.

“I just woke up every morning and I made a pot of coffee, and I had this running list of ideas in my phone for hooks and riffs and progressions,” he says. “I sat down every day and made myself write a song, and 85 percent of them were pretty good. And it was awesome. I really, really enjoyed the process.”

The result is the band’s seventh studio album, Mid-Atlantic Dub, which they recorded in 2021 and plan to release this fall. After showing the breadth of Bumpin Uglies’ influences on the Never Ending Drop, from folk to classic country to hip-hop, Mid-Atlantic Dub brings the group — also featuring Dave Wolf on bass and vocals, Ethan Lichtenberger on keyboards and TJ Haslett on drums — back to the core of what they do.

“It’s very groove-focused,” Hardesty says. “It’s very hooky, very vibey. It’s very accessible, but there was no compromise on the storytelling or the lyricism.”

In fact, Hardesty had a lot on his mind while working songs for Mid-Atlantic Dub. He had recently lost his own father while he was stepping into being a dad himself and letting go of the vestiges of childhood, all during the uncertainty of a global pandemic. It’s all there on “Slow Burn,” featuring Jacob Hemphill from SOJA. “Before the oak you got the sapling and the seed / Before you triumph you will swallow a defeat,” Hardesty sings over unhurried upstroke guitars and a beat laid back into a deep pocket.

“I was doing a lot of growing up during Covid,” he says. “It was very much like a survival thing, and when you’re in that kind of mode, it forces you to cut a lot of bullshit out of your life.”

What’s left, in Hardesty’s songwriting as in his daily life, is what’s real, and what’s real stands a solid chance of connecting with an audience that appreciates openhearted lyrics paired with a tight reggae-rock vibe.

“For me, it’s just all about honesty,” Hardesty says. “That’s what I listen for when I’m listening to music. I want to feel like whatever the author’s saying is honest.”

03
May
2023
[SOLD OUT] Mustard Plug

[SOLD OUT] Mustard Plug

 

BAG POLICY

Bags (max size 12″ x 6″ x 12″) are allowed and will be searched upon entry. Exceptions will be made for necessary medical equipment and bags for nursing mothers. We encourage you to pack light with only the necessities to make the entry process as smooth as possible.

PAYMENT POLICY

We are a cashless facility meaning that we are unable to accept cash as a form of payment. Our Box Office and Coat Check will only accept credit and debit. Our Bars will only accept credit, debit, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. Please note that artist merchandise sales are separate and may still accept cash.

 

Mustard Plug started out in 1991 in the punk clubs, basements, and dive bars of the Midwest, playing punk-influenced ska music before most people in the U.S. had ever heard of ska. They embraced a DIY work ethic that had been ingrained in them growing up in the 1980s hardcore punk scene, and applied it to everything they would ever do together as a band. Mustard Plug self-released their first cassette tape, 1992’s Skapocalypse Now!, and played constantly to earn enough money to record their first album, 1994’s Big Daddy Multitude, which was released on legendary NYC label Moon Records. With their newfound national distribution and exposure, the band climbed into their van and performed their music for new fans across North America.

For their next album they enlisted their heroes, the Descendents’ Bill Stevenson and Stephan Egerton, to record their breakthrough ska-punk classic Evildoers Beware at The Blasting Room. After meeting the crew from Hopeless Records in the beer line at a Descendents show at the Whisky-A-Go-Go, the band teamed up with the then-fledgling LA punk label to release the album to an eager and rapidly expanding fanbase. Released in 1997, Evildoers Beware solidified the band’s own take on the genre, combining the edginess of punk and the danceability of ska with sure fire melodic pop hooks. Through relentless touring and word of mouth, Evildoers Beware sold over 150,000 copies and solidified the band’s position within the burgeoning third wave ska scene. The band even flirted with commercial radio play with their cover of The Verve Pipe’s “The Freshman,” but decided mainstream pop fame was not for them. They never shot a video or commercially released the song despite the radio buzz.

During the first decade of the new millennium, as the media’s focus on ska waned, the band returned to the ska underground, touring constantly and taking their explosive live show further afield to Europe, Brazil, and Japan. While many of their 90’s ska peers went on hiatus or moved from the genre, Mustard Plug doubled down, organizing the hugely successful Ska Is Dead tours from 2004-2009. In 2007 the band returned to The Blasting Room and released their darkest and most critically acclaimed record, In Black and White. The 2010s brought more touring and playing higher profile festivals including Riotfest, Back to the Beach, Amnesia Rockfest, The FEST, Pouzza, Groezrock, and more.

In March 2020, while touring Australia and watching the live music biz fall apart in front of their eyes, it became apparent that COVID-19 would force the band to reluctantly take a 16-month hiatus. Stuck at home, they workshopped material for a new album, expected to drop in 2023. Returning to the stage in the fall of 2021, Mustard Plug shared a newfound appreciation of live shows with their ska-starved fans.

Currently, the band is back on the road, riding a fresh wave of worldwide enthusiasm for ska, teaming up with a new generation of ska bands, and playing for fans old and new. They have now played over 1,900 shows, released 6 albums, and celebrated 30 years of playing the music they love.