The state of Australian ska and reggae
May 23rd 2007 04:58
The following spiel is my point of view on the current state of ska and reggae in Australia. It probably isn't the definitive view and I have to admit I lean towards the pre 72 ska, reggae and rocksteady sound.
The first thing to point out is that the ska scene and reggae scene are two seperate entities in Australia. Rarely do the scenes cross over and when they do, they often suffer from punters not appreciating a different approach. A good example of this was Firehouse's recent Oldies Session @ Freedom Sounds. This much respected contemporary sound system was doing an oldies session, which attracted quite a few folk who like earlier JA music. The problem was that despite the excellent selections FH offered, they ruined the experience by constantly interupting songs with their fake Jamaican jabberings. I know they are known for doing this in their normal sound nights, but they should understand the contrast between the sweetest rocksteady song and their BIG UPs are cringe worthy. A shame.
Anyway, I got a bit off track. While the ska and reggae scenes don't necessarily overlap, both seem to be in a period of plodding along, without coming up with anything terribly inspiring. There are few new ska bands in Australia - there are a couple of decent ones in Melbourne, but apart from that, nothing worth writing about. Firehouse lost its regular venue in Sydney and Freedom Sounds suffers from being on a Sunday and taking place so frequently. Take It or Leave It gets a great turnout every month, but I question whether it is lacking passion from some quarter (and I run the night). Up north in Brisbane and Byron Bay there are quite regular gigs, but I am not hearing stories on the street of events I just have to attend.
The way I see it is that we have the interest; punters do want to attend ska and reggae events. What we don't have is musicians moving into reggae to produce exciting performances that people want to follow. Are other genres drawing away musicians from ska and reggae? It is hard to say. I just hope some of the successes in the US, UK and Europe start to transfer to Australia.
The first thing to point out is that the ska scene and reggae scene are two seperate entities in Australia. Rarely do the scenes cross over and when they do, they often suffer from punters not appreciating a different approach. A good example of this was Firehouse's recent Oldies Session @ Freedom Sounds. This much respected contemporary sound system was doing an oldies session, which attracted quite a few folk who like earlier JA music. The problem was that despite the excellent selections FH offered, they ruined the experience by constantly interupting songs with their fake Jamaican jabberings. I know they are known for doing this in their normal sound nights, but they should understand the contrast between the sweetest rocksteady song and their BIG UPs are cringe worthy. A shame.
Anyway, I got a bit off track. While the ska and reggae scenes don't necessarily overlap, both seem to be in a period of plodding along, without coming up with anything terribly inspiring. There are few new ska bands in Australia - there are a couple of decent ones in Melbourne, but apart from that, nothing worth writing about. Firehouse lost its regular venue in Sydney and Freedom Sounds suffers from being on a Sunday and taking place so frequently. Take It or Leave It gets a great turnout every month, but I question whether it is lacking passion from some quarter (and I run the night). Up north in Brisbane and Byron Bay there are quite regular gigs, but I am not hearing stories on the street of events I just have to attend.
The way I see it is that we have the interest; punters do want to attend ska and reggae events. What we don't have is musicians moving into reggae to produce exciting performances that people want to follow. Are other genres drawing away musicians from ska and reggae? It is hard to say. I just hope some of the successes in the US, UK and Europe start to transfer to Australia.
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Comment by Anonymous
The fact that you have started take it or leave it on a regular basis is an exciting movement. I am actually yet to make it to take it or leave it due to prior commitments and bad timing, but it is definitely something that I look forward to.
On the few occasions that I have been to freedom sounds - I found their taste to be.. somewhat limited during the DJ sessions. But as you said - everyone's opinion is based on their particular tastes.
Comment by Glen
Reggae
Comment by Loonie
I find that now that I am a little older and "married with children" I often find that I don't move in the correct circles to hear about new bands/gigs so rely very heavily on ZZZ or the internet to hear about gigs eg. Special Beat (usually Ranking Roger and Neville Staple and various others not sure who this time) are returning to Australia next January according to Aussie Skins website - but sadly only gigs in Melbourne, Sydney and Freemantle.
No Brisbane (sob, sob).
For some reason Australians seem to have to know every single song by a band before they are prepared to go to a live gig. I say - live dangerously and get to as many gigs as you can. I personally am in a situation where it is not feasible financially or babysitter wise to go out as much as I would like, but surely there must be others?
I try to see as many local bands in Ipswich as I can manage - supporting your local music scene is a good way to start. If you get a crowd of people seeing live bands at your local pub then you can perhaps ask the management to book a ska band if they see that people are wanting to get out and about.
Just a suggestion.
Comment by Skahorn
I have stumbled upon an interesting post, I was at a big event at the Jubilee called 'Alive In Oz', where I spoke to many people involved with the Brisbane Ska scene. Blowhard headlined the event and Suspect 7 played late in the night. I recall having a long conversation with a couple of passionate supporters of Ska, Punk and 4ZzZ, we spoke about just how much the radio station keeps it scene going. The Ska scene is still surviving. Check out new band Foghorn Leghorn Really Long Link
Comment by Loonie
Comment by Loonie
Really Long Link
Comment by Skahorn
Really Long Link
I saw The Porkers when they came out at the Miami Shark bar and there was plenty of support. Los Capitanes were great too.
There is going to be a huge ska gig at the Coolangatta Hotel called Ska Extravaganza on the 28th June
Comment by SkaChild
Six months in Sydney and I'm dying from lack of a live Ska scene. I've been to a 'Take it or Leave it' session at Kellys but only caught the old school tunes at the end of the night.
In desperate need of a full blown offbeat skanking session. Where fellow ska lovers would i find such a ting?