The Planet Smashers, Catch 22, Chris Murray – Live (October 8th, 2004)

When I found out that the Ska Is Dead And You’re Next Tour was coming to Edmonton, I was ecstatic.Planet Samhers, Mustard Plug, Catch22 along with Chris Murray, what a night it would be! I knew a decent amount of material from the first three bands, although not enough to call me a super crazed fan; the last on the list I had never heard off before. As the date become closer, I found myself wondering what the crowd would be like. Is Edmonton a good town for an all Ska show? I wasn’t sure. But as soon as I walked into the Starlite Room, I knew I had nothing to worry about. All around me were people dressed in suits, top hats and canes: the “ska outfit”. I was glad to see that Edmonton had a strong ska fan base still. As it got closer to 8:30, the venue became fuller. While talking to other fans I soon became aware that Mustard Plug would not be playing tonight, in fact they hadn’t been on any of the Western Canadian dates; I was slightly disappointed that my information was wrong because I wanted to see them, but I wasn’t worried. The night would end up being a memorable one.

At 8:30 the lights dimmed and Chris Murray, the one man ska band, came onto the stage. He played an acoustic guitar set lasting around 45 minutes. Right from the beginning, the crowd started getting into it. Everyone started skanking right from the opening chord of Rock Steady. His voice was clear and sharp, his lyrics simple and catchy, making it so that half the crowd was singing along halfway through the song. None of the songs were incredibly high energy ska songs that I associate ska with; although he did have a few beats that got your feet moving, but nothing incredible. The crowd still ate it up and skanked around for the hell of it. It was a interesting opening band that really put the evening off to a good start.

Next came Catch22, and they tripled the energy ten fold. Now, I do really enjoy Catch22, but I’m not a huge fan so I don’t really remember all the songs they played, nor could I pick them out. I know they played songs like Point The Blame and 1234 4321 along with some new tracks, but I can’t really recall all of them. But their performance was amazing. They opened with an amazing instrumental that got your blood going immediately and made you realize that they would put on a good show. I noticed that they seemed a but stiff, standing in place, not putting a whole lot of energy into their performance, which was disappointing. As their set went on though, they just got more energy and started moving around more, even giving the fans a chance to sing. This cheered me up as I danced around in the pit.

After Catch22, everyone made their way to the food area to buy some bottled water and dry off a bit; but they didn’t have long to wait because after just fifteen minutes The Planet Smashers made their way onto the stage wearing matching suits. They jumped right into My Decision and they sounded perfect. Matt’s vocals were strong and clear (although at times were a little overpowered by the instruments, but that was rare). The trombone and saxophone had their microphone attached to their instruments, which meant that they could jump around and run around with their instruments instead of being rooted in place. They played a lot of their singles like Change and Too Much Attitude. I, personally went crazy, when they played J’aime Ta Femme (I Like Your Girl). Then, during Surfing In Tofino, they got everyone in the crowd to sit on the floor and wave their arms to make an ocean, then on the count of ten everyone jumped up and went insane. Life Of The Party got everyone excited, and soon after that they left the stage. After a minute of “One More Song” chants, the drummer came on and did a drum solo before the rest of the band came on to sing Olé!. The Planet Smashers then played their biggest song, Super Orgy Porno Party and the crowd went nuts. Much to the security’s dismay, half the crowd found their way onto the stage to sing and dance with the band. They ended their encore with Sk8 Or Die and then left the stage for the second and final time of the night.

So now the show was over. I wondered down to the merch table, bought some CDs and t-shirts and made my way out of the venue. I was drenched in sweat, slightly sore in my back, had a solid flow of pain throughout my left knee, looked around for the girls I had met earlier and thought to myself: “Now, that was a ska show.” That put a end to a night that I will never forget.