Reel Big Fish have just finished their tour as support for Sum41 and have smelt the roses and been in the fertiliser in their career. Until recently they were most well known for appearing in the David Zucker cult movie 'Baseketball' (which, if you believe Scott, the band wrote) but now they are signed to Jive Records ('We're on the same label as Britney fuckin' Spears'), and things are looking good for the band and so here they are, in Colchester, on their penultimate U.K headline date.
The opening band, Jesse James, come out and are not over awed, despite announcing that 'there are more people here then last time we played!'. Their brand of brass infected punk rock is catchy and competent but by no means challenging or innovative, but then, I don't think the band claim to be. 4 songs in and the crowd are moving, and it would remain that way for the rest of the night. Highlights of the set was their song titles onstage (The Shoes Song, The Sheep Song, The Shirt Song) and their guitarist telling everyone not to buy a certain brand of guitar because 'although they look nice they are shit'... thanks for that!
Next band up were Whitmore. The thing about Whitmore is I know that 5 years ago, I woulda loved them to bits. They were abbrasive, in your face, rocking mother fuckers (whos lead singer sounded like Robb Flynn when telling everyone to 'Mutha fuckin' bounce'). The only thing I couldn't work out is why the hell they were supporting RBF... these guys rocked, plain and simple, and got the crowd in the right state of sweatiness for the headliners but musically, it seemed a little strange to have them on, but no complaints here. I enjoyed their set and may well venture out again in the future to see how they are doing.
20 minutes later and the theme tune to 'Superman' comes on and everyone roars... ladies and gentlemen, your hosts have arrived. The punk rock swagger and mischevous grins across the band tell you they are up for this and when they are ready, you better be prepared...
Tonight, the band are on fire and show how ska-punk is to be performed when at it's finest. Classics such as 'I Want Your Girlfriend To Be My Girlfriend Too' & ' The Kids Don't Like It to fan faves like 'Beer' and their pogo-tastic cover of A-Ha's 'Take On Me, all of which interspersed with wise cracks from Scott and Aaron ranging from how many different ways can you cover one song (they performed about 8 from samba to country & western and through to death metal), why you should not swear in a church (the Arts Centre is a converted church), wasting 5 minutes applauding everyone from the crowd to Black Sabbath and, of course, Slipknot. The band end with their most famous track, 'Sell Out' and after a good 4 minutes of feed back and stereotypical rawk posing, the band leaves the stage and security evicts everyone from the premises before the club starts that night in the same venue.
I come out sweaty, achey, with minimal voice... and grinning. Quite simply the best gig I have been too in ages. Any complaints? Just one... why did it have to end? Next stop for the guys is a few more gigs in the US then on the Warped Tour... lets hope they come back soon.
