Seattle’s own Georgetown Orbits opened the show as they opened for the Slackers a year and a half ago. This was my first time seeing GT Orbits and The Slackers and I’ve become a die-hard fan since.
Orbits’ front man Darryl Grandison is the ultimate showman who can get any audience doing his bidding in no time. His charismatic style engages everyone as he bounces and struts about the stage. Sharing vocal duties is Bridgid Roney whose song bird voice blends beautifully with Darryl’s for unforgettable two-part harmony.
Onto The Slackers. Ooh la la squared! These guys were even more fun this time than before.
The Slackers are a six-piece ska band from Brooklyn, NY and include Vic Ruggiero – keyboards, vocals, Jay “Agent Jay” Nugent – guitar, Dave Hillyard – saxophone, Glen Pine – trombone, vocals, Marcus Geard – bass, and Ara Babajian – drums.
Bass player Marcus has to be the most unique among them. The bespectacled, mustachioed, bowler hat wearer has the most vivid facial expressions of anyone I’ve ever seen. He truly looks like he’s having the time of his life playing. He plays a regular bass almost as if it were a stand-up bass. He stands it on a stool and plays it upright. The Slackers started their set with an instrumental while the two horn players choreograph their moves and guitar player Dave constantly bounces up and down in one spot.
A few songs in, they announce they’re going to play a Misfits cover because “all the girls seem to like the Misfits.” Several cheers followed as the band jumped into “attitude” done pure ska. It was nothing less than amazing. Most the vocals are done by Vic Ruggiero but are often traded with trombonist Glen Pine. Vic looks like your classic New York City Italian with his dark hair and eyes and hooked nose and he has a sense of humor that can’t be matched. He often joked with the audience and introduced their song “Married Girl” as a song dedicated to all the ugly dudes. “Married Girl” is a sadistic little song with a catchy chorus, (“married girl don’t you wanna, smoke a little marijuana take some time and have a drink and think about what yer gonna do to me and married girl ain’t you worried, if our love is kinda hurried. that you’ll be left wanting more in the time after your man has murdered me.”)
With that lead-in, the band announced that someone in the audience had something important to say. Then up came a young man with long dark hair who summoned a young woman dressed in punk attire. Then in front of everybody he confessed his love for her, pulls out a ring and places It on her finger. A proposal of marriage is made. She accepts and the happy couple exit the stage. Then it was time for another guest appearance. This time it was Jon Darby, former bass player for the Pietasters and our own Davy Jones look-alike. He really livened things up (not that they needed it). He borrowed Marcus’s bass, played it the traditional way, and bounced about the stage like a manic rubber ball, his blond mop flying about. The sound mix was so exquisite I could hear every instrument played. Keyboardist Vic even played harmonica whilst playing keyboards. I can’t think of any other ska band that includes harmonica in their music. Yet, oddly it worked well. When the band asked for requests from the audience, someone requested “Like a Virgin.” Jon, still on stage, fell to the stage floor and writhed about before leaping to his feet and doing the grind on a mic stand as the band played the old Madonna song with a ska arrangement (better, if you ask me). They even played a Beatles’ song, “We Can Work It Out,” choosing the Beatles because Jon had Beatles hair. Shortly after, a medley of The Specials’ “Rudy,” The Ramones’ “I wanna Be Your Boyfriend” and The Stones’ “Satisfaction” was performed and Jon continued to bounce on and off of the stage, and at one point took over on keyboards (a very versatile and talented musician). When they played the haunting “ International War Criminal,” there wasn’t a single person not dancing.
“International War Criminal. (War Criminal) Information is Minimal; (War Criminal)
Weapons of distruction they are gasoline and petrolyium; (War Criminal)
But are you sticking around to see what happens; (War Criminal)”
After returning for an encore, they finally played my favorite song, “Watch This” after I wrote it in large letters in my notebook and held it up for them. What a glorious night this was. Sorry for those who missed it. The club was packed pretty solid so I’m betting the show was sold out or very close. For those who just can’t drag themselves out of bed at six a.m. after being at a show til 12:30, trust me, you feel great the next day because you’re on such a high from seeing a great show. And that’s just what this was. A great show!
