Saturday night was one for the kiddies. Maybe I speak too much from personal experience but ska and punk rock seem to snag most people’s interest around the same time in life. Right around the pimples and hair-in-weird-spots thing comes crashing down, that one Operation Ivy album everybody has got comes to the rescue. It’s an auditory ointment that, while good for the soul, unfortunately does nothing for the zits.
So there was a grip of kids that seemed to be around that age and a bunch of adults who could have been parents but were having too much fun. The El Rey was not quite packed but the vibe was good to say the least. Every so often pulses would get raised and a mosh pit that moved in the circular manner of a hurricane would break out. I was pretty charmed/afraid this one eighth grade girl who was straight up throwing elbows like it was her job. It would have been a lot less funny if I had caught one of the elbows but from a few yards back it was entertaining as hell.
So the first act I caught was the Skeletones. Front man Jonas Cabrera was a true showman. He got a little too belting out “Jah Rastafari” for a gringo with no locks but his talent made that pretty forgiveable. His right hand man Paul Hampton also held it down like a champ. Every time I looked at the stage he had a different instrument.
The guys that really impressed me were See Spot. The North Hollywood group doesn’t seem to have a huge web presence but man those were some feel good tunes. Their front man looked more deserving of the name cool ruler than Gregory Isaacs himself. He was one smooth dude. It was a mellow performance that still was extremely entertaining. They performed a cover of Harry Belafonte’s “Man Smart, Woman Smarter” which was the only song I recognized all night.
