Thursday, July 23, 2009

NYC Ska Shows This Weekend!

A cast of thousands (literally!) will play what is billed as the last show ever at the Manhattan Knitting Factory (hmm, we've heard that before, haven't we?) this Friday night, as Stubborn Records/Version City takes over the joint:
The Last Show Ever at The Knitting Factory in Manhattan!
74 Leonard Street, NYC
Stubborn Records Presents
Version City Takeover
Friday, July 24, 2009
Doors: 7:00 pm/Curfew: 3:00 am
All Ages! $17 in advance, $20 at the door.

King Django Septet
Hub City Stompers
The Scofflaws
The Jammyland All-Stars featuring Milton Henry
Nomadic Wax's African Underground
The Blue Beats
Bigger Thomas
Hyphen One & Daylow
Royal City Riot
Cold Spot 8
Justin Rothberg Trio plus horns
The Forthrights
Defending Champions
Brave New Girl
Silver Dollar
plus special guests TBA

with DJs/Selectors:
Selector Bigga Mention (Ruddy Virgo International Sound System)
Selector Agent Jay - Crazy Baldhead Sound System
Selector Jah Point – Shockwave Sound
DJ Qmaxx 420
Selector Greene Goblin - Steady Sound System
King Stout
Steady Rocker
Jah Burns
DJ Qmaxx 420
Saturday night, you can head out to Brooklyn (if you're not already there) for a free Dub is a Weapon show:
Dub is a Weapon
Saturday, July 25th, 2009 @ 10:30 pm
Zebulon Cafe Concert
258 Wythe Avenue
Brooklyn, NY
NO COVER
And if you are looking for some awesome power-pop, check out my friends in the band Save Pluto:
Save Pluto w/Northern Public and more!
Saturday, July 25th @ 8:00 pm
Arlene's Grocery
95 Stanton Street, Manhattan
Cover: $10, 21+
Sadly, I'm out of town for the weekend, so no show reports from me...

10 comments:

Kames Jelly said...

version city takeover is gonna RULE. gotta pay my (5th) last respects to the knit.

Steve from Moon said...

KJ:

Enjoy it, dude! If you feel like it, write some comments about the show here afterwards...

Thanks.

Steve

Kames Jelly said...

Although I was more than content with my previous final memory of the Knit (Bigger Thomas playing Panic with Travis from HCS, Radics, Coolie Ranx, and Kevin Batchelor), this really was a great last blowout. I admittedly didnt see a few of the bands at all (my biggest pet peeve with the "3 Floors" formula) every band I saw kicked ass.

I was finally able to see the Forthrights, and as a fan from the beginning, I was blown away. I've had demos for a while, but the songs have been slightly reworked and tuned up since then, and they put out a great live show.

I only caught one song of Justin Rothberg's set. It was his usual trio, with horns, and Jah Point playing djembe. It was incredible jazzy reggae, and I'm really pissed I didn't get to see more.

Cold Spot 8 were amazing. Their set was far too short, so they ended up playing another one later on in the night, which I missed for the Scofflaws.

The Bluebeats were awesome. They played a great mix of covers and classics from their two moon albums.

Bigger Thomas were great, as always. I've seen them more times than I can possibly remember over the years, and I've never once been disappointed. They played a couple of new songs that are going to be on the new album coming out soon, when the ever popular/constantly busy King Django finishes mixing it.

HCS were great. I think out all the shows I've been to at the knit, I've seen HCS there more than any other band (Django being a close second, if not a tie).

I only caught a song or two of Silver Dollar's set, but theyre always great. I think this was their first show since Skooch left, but theyre carrying on strong.

Django's set was great. I missed a chunk of it in the middle because I was getting too tired to stand. It wouldn't have been a fitting end for ska on Leonard St. if Django hadn't played.

The Scofflaws were great too. This was my first time seeing them. It was weird seeing a 4 member Scofflaws, after having grown up with their albums and being used to such huge horn arrangements, but it was very entertaining. Although i wish they had played William Shatner, After The Lights, and Back Door Open.

The night ended with the Jammyland Allstars backing up Milton Henry. the set started out with Jah Point singing over Real Rock, and then Milton Henry came out and stole the spotlight. This was my second time seeing him (the first was also at the knit) and he was just as good as he was the last night. I had to leave in the middle of his set though, because it was 2:30 and I had work at 10am this morning.

Although I'm still absolutely exhausted and my pockets and considerably emptier, it was one of the best shows I've been to in a long time, and one more (of MANY) great memories on 74 Leonard St.

David T said...

Who are the members of the Scofflaws these days?

Steve from Moon said...

KJ:

Thanks for such a detailed show report! It sounds like it was an amazing night of ska and reggae.

The 4-piece Scofflaws seems so unnatural...but I'm glad they were good.

Hope your day at work went by quickly...

Best,

Steve

Kames Jelly said...

sammy brooks made it entertaining. i dont know how you could find watching him on stage at all boring.

as far as who's in the band now, besides Sammy Brooks, im really not sure. I'm almost positive the drummer was the original drummer, but i didnt recognize the guitarist and the bassist.

David T said...

KJ - Do you have any idea if the Scofflaws are going to actively tour or anything or was this just a one time show? I'd love to see them live.

Dave

Steve from Moon said...

Sammy has been a blast to watch and listen to for years. The Scofflaws don't have an active MySpace or webpage, so it's hard to figure out what they are up to...

Ska 4U! said...

Yah...we caught wind of that last show. West coasters hear it last, I guess.
Your blog is on our link page.
Moose- The Uptones

Steve from Moon said...

Thanks, Moose. I'm putting up a link to you now. Best, Steve-o