On Friday October 6 I ventured again to Seattle’s foremost punk club, El Corazon. This time it was to see one of my favorite ska bands Big D & the Kids Table. Hailing from Boston, Big D is fronted by the dynamic David McWane. They opened their set with LAX and a circle pit immediately lit up the dance floor.
David McWane is a marvel to watch. He gyrated, twisted and strutted about the stage, adding a lot of leaps. Big D are one non-stop party. When they played My Girlfriend’s On Drugs the dancing got so intense I felt like my legs would get chopped off at the hips as I was repeatedly pushed into the edge of the stage. Although their show lasted an hour and a half, it seemed much shorter. I was ready for more. The last time Big D played in Seattle was in 2017 so this concert was long overdue. They did not disappoint. Besides the aforementioned David McWane, Big D consists of Ryan O’Connor tenor sax, Alex Brander drums, Steve Foote bass guitar, Alex Stern guitar, Paul Cuttler trombone.
Playing prior to Big D was another ska legend, Mustard Plug. From Grand Rapids, and on tour to promote their new album, Where Did All My Friends Go?, Mustard Plug began their set with Box and there wasn’t a still body on the dance floor. When they played their song Mr Smiley (about a dude who slaughtered his family), front man Dave Kirchgessner took a plastic cleaver and chopped at those against the stage. Mustard Plug was the last band I saw live before the Covid lockdown. It was great fun to see them again. The rest of Mustard Plug consists of Brandon Jenison (trumpet), Jim Hofer (trombone), Nate Cohn (drums), Colin Clive (guitar/vocals), Mark Petz (tenor saxophone) and Greg Witulski (bass).
The second band of the night was one I was unfamiliar with called Matamoska. Matamoska is a band from LA and they were spectacular. They were a constant electric bundle of energy. Sax player (Jovan Loera), when he wasn’t blowing his horn, danced about while bassist Hector Rivera constantly ran around the stage hamming it up. The rest of Matamosk coasted of Jose Padilla (guitar/vox), Richard Sanchez (drums), Esteban Flores (keys), (tsax), Ivan Lopez (tpt), and Robert Verdugo (tbn). Formed in 2000, they are a relatively new band but all were very accomplished musicians and performers. I am now a hard core fan and will be looking out for future Seattle shows.
Opening the night was Seattle’s Mister Blank. Fronted by the goofy and charismatic James Sweazea, This eight-piece ska band boasts a four-piece horn section that included a trumpet player who bore an uncanny resemblance to the late Andy Kaufman. Mister Blank’s songs included titles like Anthemic Pandemic and Panic at the Costco, so you can see just how much goofy humor this band possesses. James Sweazea totally hammed it up with every song. This is the first time I’ve seen them post pandemic and it was a total pleasure.
All photos by Holly Homan.
