NYC Summer/Fall 2014 Ska Calendar #16

Summer holiday's almost done...

Thursday, August 28, 2014 @ 7:00 pm

Vic Ruggiero, Kepi Ghoulie, Todd Fausnacht

The Grand Victory
245 Grand Street
Brooklyn, NY
$10/21+

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Friday, August 29, 2014 @ 7:30 pm

Mrs. Skannotto, Across the Aisle, The Shipwrecks

The Knitting Factory
361 Metropolitan Avenue
Brooklyn, NY
$10 in advance/$12 day of show

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Saturday, September 6, 2014 @ 7:00 pm

Inspecter 7, Lion's Law, Step 2 Far, Skarroneros

The Grand Victory
245 Grand Street
Brooklyn, NY
$15

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Sunday, September, 7, 2014 @ 7:00 pm

U2Nation and Rude Boy George (goes on at 7:45 pm)

Fairfield Theater Company
70 Sanford Street
Fairfield, CT
$25

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Thursday, September 11, 2014 @ 9:00 pm

The Scofflaws

Declan Quinn's
227 Fourth Avenue
Bayshore, NY

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Saturday, September 13, 2014 @ 9:00 pm

Dig Deeper w/Ken Parker backed by Crazy Baldhead, plus Deadly Dragon Soundsystem, DJ Honky, and Mr. Robinson

Littlefield
622 Degraw Street
Brooklyn, NY
$20 in advance/$25 day of show

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Monday, September 22, 2014 @ 7:00 pm

The Far East w/Pears

The Grand Victory
245 Grand Street
Brooklyn, NY
$9/21+

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Tuesday, October 14th, 2014 @ 7:00 pm

Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra

Irving Plaza
17 Irving Place
Manhattan, NY
$41.50

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Thursday, October 30, 2014

3rd Annual Devils Night w/Mephiskapheles, The Toasters, No Redeeming Social Value, and The Ladrones

Mercury Lounge
217 East Houston Street
Manhattan, NY
Tickets: $23.85 (through this link)
21+

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Friday, December 5, 2014 @ 9:30 pm

Rude Boy George and special guests (two old school NYC ska bands!)

Otto's Shrunken Head
538 East 14th Street
Manhattan, NY
No cover/21+

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Friday, December 19, 2014

The Scofflaws

89 North
89 North Ocean Avenue
Patchogue, NY
Free/21+

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Duff Review: Coldspot 8 "A Man's Kingdom" b/w "Skinhead a Go Pop a Collar" Single

Dynamite Records
2013
7" vinyl record
Available from Deadly Dragon Sound

(Review by Steve Shafer)

Even with members living many states apart in both New York City and Orlando, FL, the ska/rocksteady/early reggae crew Coldspot 8 still tours on occasion (as they did this past spring and summer), and records and releases excellent new music, such as the two brilliantly catchy songs here (with Jah Point on vocals, Kyle Jones on bass, Agent Jay on guitar, Matt Burdi on drums, Jack Wright on organ, Nabil Ghandour on trumpet, and Tim Schletter on sax and backing vocals). The band first formed in 1996 in Florida and issued It's the Feelgood (Beatville) in 2000 and Get on High (Stubborn) in 2005--these came out during my ska wilderness days, after Moon's awful demise, so I missed out on them the first time round (and am happy to see that they're both are still in print).

With an ice rink organ line that reminds me a bit of The Congos' "La La Bam Bam," "A Man's Kingdom" is a terrific vintage rocksteady cut about the ups and downs of playing poker. The singer believes that he's holding the winning hand--a straight with a king as a high card, only to be beaten by an opponent's straight with an ace or "stone": "A man's kingdom comes crumbling down, down, down/Now all my knights at the table they got to run from me/And all my knights at my table better run from me/Now all it took was a stone to knock me off my throne/And all it took was a stone that make me know I'm alone...I'm a rush it, I'm a gun, I'm a make it three/but you a pull it and a steal, take away from me/Takin' my money and pride, start the spark in me/and make the game catch a fire, burned the game for me/A man's kingdom comes crumbling down, down, down." The words of wisdom here are that you can't win 'em all, in life as in poker.

Featured on the recent "Brooklyn Rocksteady" documentary film soundtrack, "Skinhead a Go Pop a Collar" is a fantastic, quirky cut (love the unusual sax riff!) that's more of an observation than a "sell-out"-type criticism of how people who were once young and deeply involved in subcultures go "straight" or mainstream in order to pursue a career and/or make a lot of money (Jah Point tells me that it's essentially about "moving up in the world, from a blue collar to a white one"): "One time it was a workers' world/Next time you see the rude boy learns/So skinhead a go pop a collar/Come see how things change/Less work, more pay that's what the man say/Twelve hour days, they've gone away/Now from a night nurse, we call a doctor now/And from a man who sit on the bench, him a big judge now/See them as a doctor/See them as a lawyer/But when we stop bawling/Skinhead still come calling..." I can name several former skinheads and rudies who are now doctors and lawyers (but they definitely still love their ska music and its subculture). So it goes.

Word is that there were two other songs recorded in this session--here's hoping they see the light of day (and on vinyl) soon!

NYC Ska/Rocksteady Gig Alert: Stranger Cole and Patsy Backed by Crazy Baldhead This Saturday Nite!

There really is no other reason to be anywhere else this Saturday night (10/1/11) in NYC than the Bell House in Brooklyn (click on the image at right for all of the details) to see the first performance together in NYC by Stranger Cole and Patsy, backed by the all-star Crazy Baldhead band (plus Mr. Robinson & DJ Honky on the decks, as well as the Deadly Dragon Sound System). This is an extremely rare and historic opportunity to witness two of the ska and rocksteady eras' greatest and most soulful singers making incredible music (apparently it took the promoters--namely Agent Jay--around four years of pursuing, pleading, and negotiating with the artists to make this happen)!

For those not in the know, my friends at Marco on the Bass and Lawless Street have some terrific background on Stranger Cole and Patsy that will inform you of their great significance to the history of Jamaican music and provide you with some more info on the show (like who's performing in the all-star Crazy Baldhead band).

From the event's Dig Deeper Facebook page, it looks like everyone who is anyone in the current ska scene will be there, so there will be lots of familiar faces in the crowd to catch up with and share the experience.

Tickets are available for purchase online here. It might be a good idea to buy them in advance (I've got mine right here), since there is a big buzz about this show...