Written for: http://backstageblogger.tumblr.com/
The Princess Pavilion’s first gig of 2012 welcomed Reel Big Fish’s ‘End of the World Celebration Tour’ to Falmouth. The chaotic ska-punk band, renowned for their manic live presence sold out quickly and their excited fans started to fill the hall as soon as the doors opened at 7.30.
The first of two support acts was JB Conspiracy, a 7 piece ska outfit from Guildford . Although the room was still only starting to fill up, the group played as if it was packed out; jumping around the stage and getting the small audience involved in the music they really put everything they had into the short performance. Most impressive, was the saxophone/keyboard player who could be seen quite frequently through the set, playing both instruments simultaneously. It is not uncommon to see multi-instrumentalists at work, but this performance was an unexpected feat of skill.
Reel Big Fish
After a fifteen minute set change the second support act bounded onto the stage to The Who’s ‘Baba O’Reilly’. Joining in with the song, they played out the intro and introduced themselves as Orange. Launching straight into their first song, they were a cross between The Who, The Libertines and Green Day. The lead singer, with his tight jeans and military jacket, paid tribute to Pete Doherty’s image, while his union jack guitar and windmill arms confirmed he fancied himself a contemporary Pete Townsend. Their music, however was a throwback to 90s Pop-Punk acts such as Blink 182 and Green Day. As the set went on, the front man’s exaggerated performance was starting to get slightly annoying as he tried a little too hard to act weird and wacky. Finishing their set with a cover of The Beatles’s ‘Help’, one of the two guitarists got a chance to take lead vocals. His vocals seemed stronger than the front man’s and it was a solid cover of the song, he probably should have been lead vocalist for the whole set.
Another fifteen minute set change and the hall was now packed out with an impatient audience waiting for Reel Big Fish. As the lights dimmed the audience started to shout for the band and stomp their feet. Finally the group danced onto the stage and the audience surged forward, all fighting to reach the coveted front row spot for the show. Each member of the band had their own unique style with one dressed like he was going to a wedding and the next like he was going on holiday.
The group’s front man, Aaron Barrett, introduced the members of the band throughout the set using the same line; “I bet you’re all wondering who that handsome man is…” making it sound each time like he was describing himself before following another members introduction. This humorous repetition was used consistently throughout the set, notably later when the band played the same short song five times in a row in different styles. The song was always introduced with the words; “we’re going to play another song, it’s the same song”, and for each one he would request that the audience joined in by doing something appropriate to the music style (for example the audience were asked to square dance to a country style version of the song).
The group’s slapstick approach to performing made them really fun to watch on stage. They would pretend to kick each other and fall around the stage as if to imply they were genuinely in a fight. The five band members at the front of the stage would frequently burst into a synchronised dance, jumping or kicking in sync to the music; with the audience attempting to join in within their own cramped space.
The wild and excitable audience really put the security to work throughout, with five or six people being pulled out for crowd surfing. At one point, what looked like somebody stood upside down could be seen, with a pair of shoes floating at head height within the crowd and a girl was dragged out looking slightly worse for wear.
Reel Big Fish broke up the set with a few covers, before each one Barrett told the audience; “if you don’t know this song, then fuck you!” Of course, everyone knew and enjoyed the different genres that were covered across the performance, beginning with Van Morrison’s ‘Brown Eyed Girl’ and ending with ‘Monkey Man’ most famously by The Specials.
They saved their big hit ‘Sell Out’ for the encore and ended on one final and epic cover of AHA’s ‘Take on Me’. By the time Reel Big Fish were done the crowd were left exhausted but not put out, requesting their presence back on stage after the finale; certainly the sign of a good night.
For more information on Reel Big Fish, the support acts or their tour dates, visit their websites at: http://www.reel-big-fish.com/
Emma Roberts 