Reel Big Fish LIVE @ O2 Academy, Liverpool 02/08/14

Rating:

I have always maintained that there’s a subsection of bands where it’s essentially illegal to not have fun. Bands in this category include the likes of Gogol Bordello, the Bouncing Souls, Streetlight Manifesto and Madness, but the epitome of this small group of bands has got to be Reel Big Fish. Don’t worry, I hear the inevitable collective groan, an American ska-punk band from the 1990’s, why Lord why? I know, I feel you, some of it was awful but some of it was unbelievable; Reel Big Fish, Less Than Jake and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones to name just three of the standouts from a genre of music which had a very small window of popularity, but bear with me.

With able support coming from Broken 3 Ways, who got proceedings going with well-constructed ska getting the crowd moving their feet early, as well as The Jellycats who in the same vein injected more catchy ska into the mix – and I’m not ashamed to say that I bought their EP after the gig outside the show, it’s called A&E (Alcohol & Egos) and it’s tight, give it a listen. I will certainly be checking both the support bands out again in the future.
Then Reel Big Fish took to the stage opening with ‘Everyone Else is an Asshole’ before Aaron Barrett laid down the command to “do the fish!” before launching into ‘Trendy’. ‘She’s Famous Now’ followed, the crowd responding with more wild skankin’ and finding themselves in good voice. Next came the instrumental ‘Don’t Stop Skankin’ followed by the ‘The Bad Guy’ and ‘Ban the Tube Top’, ‘Everything Sucks’, ‘Thank You For Not Moshing’, ‘Kiss Me Deadly’, ‘I Dare You To Break My Heart, ‘Good Thing’, ‘Skatonic’ and ‘I Know You Too Well To Like You Anymore’.

As came to be a staple of the show, lead singer Aaron Barrett’s humorous interaction with the crowd and the bands orchestrated stage moves added a level of theatricality that wasn’t out of place, introducing their next song, ‘She Has A Girlfriend Now’, by saying, “Everything about this next song is true. Except for the lyrics”. ‘Where Have You Been’ and ‘Hiding In My Headphones’ followed and are two examples of both the cynicism and wit inherent in the lyrics.

The final song of the set proper was crowd pleaser ‘Beer’; it was also the song which brought everyone’s awful dance moves out (not that many of the crowd had needed much encouragement from the start of the show), going into a semi cover of ‘Self Esteem’ by The Offspring during the breakdown, which didn’t even seem out of place, before coming back into the final verse of ‘Beer’. The vibe of the show was off the feel good chart and the band left the stage.

For the encore they started up again with the time old football chant ‘Ole’ before launching into die-hard fans favourites ‘Monkey Man’ and ‘Sell Out’. They then rounded the night off by playing their cover of ‘Take On Me’ by a-ha, which was as good an excuse as any for the all of us in the crowd to demonstrate why punks and skinheads aren’t the professionals on Strictly Come Dancing (we all lack co-ordination).

In the pub after the gig me and my mate were talking about the show and came to some conclusions, the first of which is that Reel Big Fish was the funnest gig we’ve been to since we were in our teens but also that it’s probably the best £13 you could spend on live music in the present economic climate because they played for a full hour and 25 minutes before stopping for the encore. It felt like 20 minutes from the start to that point because it was relentless, and not in the “OMG this is so heavy/fast/insert superlative here” sense but because it was fun. If I compare it to my worst gig experience when I was 16, me and my mate Woodsy payed £20 to see the Horrors, the support was really bad they did an Axl Rose turning up at ten past ten, played 5 songs and didn’t come on for an encore and the whole thing really dragged and we left feeling bloody miserable. For £7 less we got the complete other end of the spectrum. In recent years, with being a student and then the inevitable joblessness that follows a Film degree, I appreciate quality and value for money now more than ever and Reel Big Fish really came through for everyone there, no one can walk away from the gig saying they had a bad time or didn’t enjoy it. If they did somebody please take them out of the gene pool now.

Short and simply – see this band live!