Last night was the “Christian Dasilva has a posse” benefit show. The Aquabats’ former tour manager, Christian Dasilva, passed away recently, and all proceeds from the show went to his family. While the Aquabats posted about it n the Super Show Facebook page, I probably wouldn’t have known about it if it wasn’t for a bit of a coincidence. On Friday, Toshiba had two food trucks at its Chili Cook-off. For the first time ever, I wore a t-shirt to work because I knew it was going to be hot and we were outside. It happened to be an Aquabats t-shirt, and the guy working the Longboard Ice Cream truck knew the Aquabats. Not only was he a friend of the band, he was a former roadie and has been in the Aquabats! Super Show! He told me about the show.

Shortly after we arrived at the Chain Reaction in Anaheim, we saw the Battle Tram pull into the parking lot! It’s a bit smaller than it is in the show…

That didn’t stop gem and me from posing with it though! How awesome is that?

First up was a grunge band from San Diego called The Makeup Sex. I hadn’t heard of them before, and they weren’t mentioned on any of the announcements about the show, so I didn’t know what to expect. Luckily they were pretty entertaining. Strangely, the OC Register’s slideshow featured a handful of photos of the singer and drummer, both, well, fat, sweaty guys (photo 18, for example), yet only included one picture of the attractive bass player (photo 19).

Scotty Professional took the stage while Starpool set up, performing an acoustic version of the Aquabat’s Martian Girl. I really enjoyed it. While I’m not familiar with him, nor had I been to the Chain Reaction before, I could tell that he really cared about Christian Dasilva. I’m glad I recorded his performance; I’ve already ripped the audio so I could listen to the song.

Next up was Starpool. I hadn’t heard of them before I looked them up in preparation of this show. As it turns out, Starpool consists of the former members of Save Ferris and one former member of No Doubt. They were incredibly awesome! Their music was sweet, wonderful ska, and their stage presence was superb. The singer definitely took control of the stage. I especially enjoyed their rendition of “Shout” with the singer jumping into the audience and leading us as we crouched low to the ground, a little bit softer now. More bands need sax, trumpet, and trombone!
I later sent Starpool a Facebook message, letting them know how much I enjoyed the show. I also had to let them know that I bought their album and EP after the show. Great stuff!

Then it was time for the Aquabats to take the stage! In this picture, you can see the M.C. Bat Commander on the left, Eagle “Bones” Falconhawk on guitar next to him further back, Crash McLarson next on bass, and, on the very edge, Ricky Fitness on drums. I don’t think I got any good pictures of Ricky Fitness or Bones really. Oh well.

Can you tell the Commander and Crash are good buddies? It sure looks like it to me! Of course, Crash is also gem’s big friend. He said yes at Comic-Con, you know.

Finally, here’s Jimmy the Robot, who plays the keyboard and sax, in front his keyboard. To his left is Crash. Jimmy grabbed by hand twice in the show! Swoon! The M.C. Bat Commander did once as well! Okay, I’ve seen them before and shaken all their hands, but it’s still fun!
When the show ended, the audience chanted “Where was the Captain,” and the Aquabats came back out to play Captain Hampton. Sadly, this took the place of Fashion Zombies and Burger Rain, which were written on the setlist. I really wanted to hear Burger Rain too!
When they played Pool Party, they threw pool toys in the audience like they’ve done previously. They also called all the young kids onto the stage. The Commander told them that the concession area in the back was the candy zone, and that they’d get free candy if they went over. He said that if the Chain Reaction didn’t want to pay for it, the Aquabats would. And how would the kids get there? Well, the Commander would throw them into the audience to crowd-surf to the back of course! They were all adorable. One very young boy, Jacob, even had a little mustache drawn on his lip like the M.C. Bat Commander!
It was a terrific show, and I had so much fun. I was pretty much soaking wet when I got home, and most of it was likely not my sweat. Those Aquabats fans with rashguards get pretty sweaty. I finally made it to sleep by 1:30, and I can definitely say I was sleepy today!
Christian Dasilva’s Benefit Show Featuring Starpool and The Aquabats! – Chain Reaction – 7/23/12, Priscella Vega, Heard Mentality, OC Weekly Blogs
The Aquabats perform at the Christian Dasilva Benefit Concert at Chain Reaction in Anaheim on Monday, OrangeCounty.com