MUSIC: Slackers & HCS @ Asbury Lanes (3/21/09)

The night of Saturday, March 21st was full of firsts for a Slackers fan such as myself. Never before had I managed to stand so close to the stage in such an intimate venue as Asbury Lanes without fear of being smacked in the head repeatedly by excited dancing and crowd surfing fans. Also, never having been to the Lanes in general since I was too young for the 21+ venue the last time anyone worth seeing was playing on a day when my schedule agreed, I was excited to experience their interesting food selection and overall environment. Sadly, I did no get to bowl despite carting my checkered bowling shoes to the venue. I did, however, try their version of grilled cheese with the cheese substituted for BBQ Tofu. It was a little tough like beef jerky, a strange consistency for the usually slimy-soft food. I think I should've chosen the buffalo chicken sandwich instead. Next time.

On a more personal note, I was insanely thrilled at getting to get up-close and film a band whose music most helped me through some of the roughest breakups in my life. I'm not even kidding here, and I'm sure that plenty of people have similar stories with various albums not necessarily ska or reggae related, but the Slackers' album Peculiar which ends with a beautiful rendition of the song "I Shall be Released" which was originally written and performed by Bob Dylan in 1967. Often refered to me as "driving west into the sunset music" and even given to friends who were traveling to California by car with strict instructions of what time of day to listen to the album, Peculiar helped me get back in touch with my ska-loving self as I recovered from a very tumultuous time in my dating life. It came off as a chill-and-enjoy comfort album. True story.

Getting back to the skadventure, I wanted to fill you in on the fact that Evan (from the band DIVE) and I had arrived significantly early but were not allowed into the venue for at least an hour when doors officially opened. Convinced via my skullycell by the something of a scene celebrity and friend/assistant to many a band, Bill Cashman, we climbed out of our nice warm car where I had been napping and ventured toward the venue by foot as the somewhat chilly ocean air. The Slackers were all gathered outside the Lanes and posing for a photo shoot with Joelle Andreas, a friend from the scene and fellow band photographer who creates and distributes the ever popular ska calendar. Bill was recruited by the Slackers' guitarist Agent Jay (formerly of the band Agent 99 from which he gained his nickname) to film some footage of the photo shoot. Somehow, I managed to get myself involved in this and ended up striking up a conversation with Jay about things not necessarily related to music and volunteering myself to contribute show footage toward the production of their up-coming dvd. It explains why I have half the show posted in this blog, which is still cool for your viewing enjoyment.

The show itself was quite awesome, filled with people dancing and bowling around the stage some of which had a considerable amount to drink but were not getting unruly. The bands were excellent, as always. I filmed a little of Hub City Stompers but missed the first band due to holding a conversation at the bar and a slight lack of interest in getting too close. They were sort of experimental and cool in theory but not really my thing. I listened to their set which was a creative version of a jam session from the bar where I was more comfortable. The Slackers headlined and I captured some footage of them dancing around, singing/playing (of course) and when their brass section jumped off the stage and into the audience to dance around and play. I loved the up-close-and-personal feel of their performance at this venue.

Thumbs-up, guys.