Reel Big Fish - Astoria, London

Californian punk jesters Reel Big Fish would undoubtedly agree, having spanned two decades despite being unsigned for much of that period. Their cult popularity has always remained and tonight’s gig has moved from the Astoria 2 to its soon-to-be-flattened big sister.

First up are Manchester four-piece Sonic Boom Six who seem to have crafted their own ball busting variation of the ska/punk genre, mixing it up with heavy drum ‘n’ bass-like samples and skate punk spitting as they thrash out new material from their latest album ‘Arcade Perfect’ and older favourites like ‘Monkey See, Monkey Do’ and the ferocious ‘Piggy in the Middle’. Front-woman Laila and the band combine Beastie Boy showmanship in their raps with a solid performance.

Unfortunately, since the days of Madness ska seems to have lost its way. Cross the Atlantic though and suddenly the brass filled, uber catchy melodies are rife. It is utterly fitting then that the torch should be passed on to the Yanks, in particular second warm-up act Streetlight Manifesto who hit the Astoria with their ultimate party starter ‘We Will Fall Together’, its four part brass/sax melody proving as punchy as a hitman on fight night. They dish out their relentlessly swift repertoire of new material from new release ‘Somewhere In The Between’ with remarkable panache and gusto, together with tried and tested crowd pleasers. ‘Dear Sergio’ delivers distinctly like a sped-up, all American highs-school marching band, and resounding favourite ‘Point/Counterpoint – Keasbey Nights’ sees the Astoria crowd rising to the infamous chorus before the New Jersey six piece end with the entirely appropriate ‘Here’s to life’, leaving the Astoria waiting for a good hour and a half of fishiness.

The traditional sweltering heat down on the Astoria floor suddenly seems bearable as the banner comes down, the spots go up and the six, permanent (fingers crossed) members of the Reel Big Fish assume their extravagantly dramatic positions before launching into one of their major hits from the 90s ‘Sell Out’. RBF and their particular brand of ska, where lyrical content revolves around taking other peoples’ girlfriends, booze and a certain stance against the record industry, hail from the same era as Blink182 and have a similar silliness about them, although not quite as crude. Frontman and Morrissey look-alike Aaron Barrett is donning his white and fluo green suit from their newest video ‘Party Down’, and publicises their new album ‘Monkey’s For Nothin’ And The Chimps for Free’ before launching into full fisted renditions of ‘A New Version of You’ and ‘Another Day in Paradise’, an inimitably ‘fishy’ cover of the soppy 1989 Phil Collins single. This album has thankfully brought back the best in the Fish after a distinct blip in their deliverables.

With the fish back on form, humorous ego-massaging was always going to be on the menu. Playing one of the longest standing riffs in metal is pulled off as a foolproof way of affecting adoration. Metallica’s ‘Enter Sandman’ intro, in RBF’s terms also means the introduction of their classics. The crowd lap up the trademark lead into ‘The Set Up’ and a few faves from the ‘Everything Sucks’ era as the self proclaimed “masters of all musical styles’ woop out the thousand and one versions of ‘S.R.’, always a slightly hedonistic but utterly hilarious indulgence in their own versatility. It provides an entertaining intermission of sorts as they proceed into ‘Kiss Me Deadly’, the mellow, reggae love ballad that is ‘Your Guts I Hate Em’ and ‘She Has A Girlfriend Now’. For this Aaron invites SB6’s Laila and her flowing red prom dress to perform the “girl part” for the eighteenth time on tour. As excitement reaches euphoric heights they bust out ‘Beer’ and their new single ‘Party Down’ before retiring to their chambers for a cold one.

They finally return to make a riotous crowd “do the fish” throughout the intro of ‘Trendy’, dance their cotton socks of during ‘I Want Your Girlfriend To Be My Girlfriend Too’ before climaxing in more ways than one with ‘Take On Me’, the cover that made them and that song that everyone secretly wanted to hear.