.: FuryRocks :: live_review :: Reel_Big_Fish_Made_the_audience_go_out_of_their_minds

Published: 03 February 2010

Reel Big Fish - ska and punk topped with metal

One wonders whether a review on a ska and punk band is in its right place here. Read and discover why this is the case. Tonight the Orangerie venue of the Botanique complex is slowly filling up with an audience consisting mainly of youngsters in their twenties. This small but cozy hall is located near the center of Brussels.

Sonic Boom Six from the UK is kicking off tonight. This very young band has the experience to warm up an audience. A female singer looking like a Barbie doll, a bass player who raps and a guitarist who can handle the bass and adding a drummer make this band complete. Apparently they seem to be missing a guitar player because he took more alcohol than he could handle. Nice warm-up but most people came to adore Reel Big Fish.

The Southern Californian ska-punk band is well known for their exciting and lively shows filled with irony and humor. Covers of famous and lesser-known hardrock bands as songs from other genres are fired at the audience. That's where the metal part really comes lurking around the corner. Songs like I Want Your Girlfriend, New Version Of You, She Has A Girlfriend Now, Another FU Song and Scott's A Dork make fun of many hard rock cliches and taunt your imagination. Although ska and punk influences dominate most of the songs, frontman and guitarist Aaron Barrett plays metal guitar solo's in each one of them.

Covering songs is also an important part of their live shows and this concert is no exception. Mr Sandman shows admiration towards Metallica's Enter Sandman and the first headbangers start to show what they've got. Monkey Man, a reggae song by the Maytals in 1969, could be taken directly from Jeff Scott Soto's latest album. Take On Me by Aha is just hilarious and the crowd turns into a large moshpit. The song SR, one of the encores, is played in a variety of different styles like death metal, country, blues, jazz, punk...you name it and they did it. They even raped Lita Ford's Kiss Me Deadly and turned it into a real ska song with heavy metal solo. Last song Beer, which is actually the anthem of these hooligans, made the audience go out of their minds.

Anyone who was there enjoyed it, anyone who wasn't just missed out on a great gig. Question remains whether you have to attend a show like this being a hardrock fanatic. If you can keep an open mind towards musical diversity, you should check Reel Big Fish out and enjoy. Do you feel more comfortable with the true values of heavy metal, stay at home and watch Metallica's latest dvd Français Pour Une Nuit together with your girlfriend.