Reel Big Fish @ Koko

We all have those bands we grew up listening to. But then something changes; other bands take over and these childhood heroes get shoved to the back of the closet only to emerge at two in the morning during alcohol-fuelled nights... For me, and presumably everyone else at Koko tonight, Reel Big Fish are one such band.

So now for a night of ska, skanking and, um, something else beginning with s… Ah! That’ll do. Sonic Boom Six. They, along with Big D and the Kids Table are the support bands, and couldn’t be more appropriate: as punk-ska as punk-ska gets, and everyone starts to get into the groove. But of course, we’re all here for some childhood heroes and the crowd is quite simply electric once they come on stage.

Reel Big Fish made something of a revival in 2009, releasing two albums and touring like maniacs. I’m sure someone out there will be yelling “they never went away!” but it did seem a little quiet on the Fish front for a while. That could have had something to do with being dropped from Jive Records, but the boys aren’t letting that get to them and have been pretty busy. Naturally, however, the majority of the audience in Koko this evening are a tad older than you would expect at a current pop-punk concert, but then again, Reel Big Fish aren’t exactly current.

This doesn’t stop the guys from keeping their set varied. New songs creep in amongst old classics and of course, a decent amount of covers. But at the end of the day, each is as good as the last and with this sort of music it’s tricky not to get sucked in and, well, dance like a nutter. I’ve even dragged someone along who has very little interest in ska but by the end of the evening they’re singing and dancing as madly as the rest of us.

The thing that’s impressed me most about this evening is the crowd. The atmosphere is great. Everyone’s chatting to everyone, dancing with strangers and enjoying the festivities. Usually the standing section at Koko is three-quarters full, but today the crowd is packed all the way to the start of the bar. Even the usual moody bar staff are dancing and enjoying themselves. Getting to see a gig for free? The cheek of them…

Classics ‘Beer’ and ‘Where Have You Been’ naturally make an appearance and one major joy of seeing a band who have been around for this long is seeing the ease with which they play. When you’ve been going as long as The Fish, you don’t even have to think about what note to play next.

During the encore Barrett spends ten minutes claiming to be the ‘masters of all musical genres’ and proceeding to ‘prove’ this by playing one song over and over, varying the genre. Maybe not musically enlightening, but it’s damn funny in a Tenacious D kind of way. Reel Big Fish may not be the masters of all musical genres, but they’re most definitely the masters of ska, and throwing a great party