Slackers |
Ska shows are incongruous affairs. Kids in snappy suits and slicked hair wield brass and bass in a wild acoustic frenzy. But in any maelstrom, there must be a point of calm at the center, and for over a decade the scene has revolved around the Slackers. Though firmly grounded in Jamaican roots, the Slackers have pushed the genre forward, incorporating jazz, reggae, soul, swing, and Latin influences into their massive and expanding repertoire. They were in full effect last Thursday night at The Middle East.
Frontman and lyricist Vic Ruggiero took breaks from banging his keyboard to banter with the audience in his New York drawl, recounting a visit to Boston with his high-school sweetheart, the inspiration for “Sarah.” South Shore native Glenn Pine, the ever-grinning, always immaculate trombonist and vocalist, alternated between sweet crooning and brassy blasts, eventually dueling in the pit with sax aficionado Dave Hillyard.
They worked quickly through material off their latest album, the soulful and political Peculiar (Hellcat), before indulging the crowd with some old standards from their huge catalog. I admit, I worried that the live show would suffer without Marc “Q-Maxx” Lyn’s onstage antics and vocals, but my fears were erased when Glenn Pine belted out “What Went Wrong” with fervor and lament.
Earlier, local opening band the Stolen Records got the crowd moving with a genre-twisting set and syncopated rhythms. Keep an eye out for them. Afterward, psychobilly thespians the Phenomenauts defied logic and shame to throw a hilarious and raucous, prop-filled set featuring a cameo by a Nintendo Power Glove.
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Topics:
Live Reviews
, Entertainment, Music, Ska
