Reel Big Fish

Academy 26/01/10

By Henry Rab

Supports Sonic Boom Six are not unfamiliar with large stages, having rocked the Main Stages at Leeds and Reading last summer. Proudly defending their most recent work, the Boom blitz through a set of new tracks fusing styles of rock, hardcore and of course skankable ska. We are still given a slice of their old school tunes for their final number ‘Piggy in the Middle’, but the crowd’s reaction throughout the set proves that material from the band’s latest album City of Thieves  has great effect in the large scale venue, as their line-up gels energetically.

Big D and the Kids Table, on the other hand, play a set which fails to engage with the audience at all.  Whilst Sonic Boom Six are a homegrown ska-punk band, Big D have come all the way from across the pond and it seems to have been a few years since their heyday. Their set consists of mostly new tunes from their recent release Fluent in Stroll, and these feel somewhat diluted compared to more well known songs like ‘Noise Complaint’ and ‘Steady Riot’. Lead singer David McWane propels himself confidently around the stage, and the addition of two lovely-looking ladies on backing vocals makes all the tunes a little more soothing.

The venue is packed with adoring Reel Big Fish fans who know the words to every single track they pull out of their pocket. The Fish’s latest release was a collection of ska-punk covers, including ‘Brown-Eyed Girl’ and ‘Monkey Man’, so they don’t necessarily have a problem with new tunes not receiving a good reaction. Still, they play mostly their earliest and most popular songs, kicking off with ‘Sell Out’ - a track with a lovely layer of bitterness; after all, when you’re in a band “nobody cares, nobody understands.” Meanwhile, Sonic Boom Six’s Laila contributes guest vocals on ‘She Has a Girlfriend Now’.

RBF do, however, blitz through their set a little too briskly, failing to deliver any of that characteristically Fishy banter and silly gags that define them.  ‘Enter Sandman’ has been heard before, and their guest star dressed as a hair metal icon is a predictable interlude from past shows. Not a bad set, but lacking the original zaniness you’d hope to find at a Reel Big Fish gig. - (7)