Tag Archives: stupid flanders

Suburban Legends, Skapeche Mode, and more on 1/14

I went Reel Big Fish concert a couple weeks ago featuring Starpool, The Maxies, Skapeche Mode, and Stupid Flanders at the Observatory. I didn’t get chance to share any photos. Better late than never.

After watching The Maxies on the main stage with gem, I switched rooms to watch Stupid Flanders. That’s also where I ran into my friend, Amit.

gem left Stupid Flanders to be sure to catch all of Suburban Legends. I missed the first half of the first song or so by the time I got over there. It was packed, and we were separated.

After Suburban Legends’ set, I switched back to the Constellation Room for Skapeche Mode. Can you guess that they do Depeche Mode covers?

I got nice and close! Skapeche Mode has great energy, and I love fun 80s tunes. Plus, they’re pretty friendly! I actually ran into Bryan, the trumpet player, at SDCC.

gem managed to find me at this point even though we couldn’t text. Signal was so bad that our text messages were actually lagging by 20 minutes or so.

After their set, gem and I chatted with Bryan briefly, and I got this photo with Skapeche Mode’s singer. Note the David Bowie homage.

Last was Reel Big Fish. By that time, I just wasn’t feeling it too much anymore. Plus, there was a lot of weed around us, so we left after a couple songs. We did, however, run into Brian Klemm, guitarist for Suburban Legends. I think this is the happiest I’ve ever seen gem. Plus, when I asked Klemm about the band since this is their last tour, he confirmed that they’re not breaking up and should still be playing locally. Awesome!

Ska & Punk Night 5 at Centerfield Sports Bar & Grill

Friday night was Ska & Punk Night 5 at Centerfield Sports Bar & Grill in Huntington Beach. Half Past Two posted about it, which is how I found out. Stupid Flanders was headlining, and somehow they didn’t actually post about it until after Half Past Two despite HP2 not performing in it.

The line up was Not A Chance, Failed to Victory, Revancha, and Stupid Flanders, with Stupid Flanders being the only band I’d seen. Not A Chance, a punk band, played first. I noticed that Max, guitarist and vocalist for HP2, was there, so I said hello between sets. gem and I ended up joining him.

Failed to Victory is pictured at the top. For some reason, my clip of them won’t upload to YouTube and has no audio when I try to play it on my PC.

It’s fine on my phone and on Instragram though.

Despite a long wait as they fixed a blown out amp, F2V was really good! Unfortunately, it got so late that we didn’t stay for Revancha or Stupid Flanders, but I’m really glad to have learned about Failed to Victory. Plus it was cool to hang out with Max!

Wet Hot Skamerican Summer!

After work last night, I went to dinner with my brother. He’s leaving for Recruit Training soon, so this will be the last time I see him for a little bit. We went to Olive Garden, and the two of us ordered what we always order. At the end of the meal, a waiter who wasn’t serving our table, Brad, came over to tell me that he liked my shirt and the band it represented and was happy to see it, and he shook my hand. I was wearing my “one fish, two, red fish, reel big fish” shirt. Cool!

Anyways, it was nice seeing my brother again before he leaves. I’m proud and hope he does well.

After dinner, I met with my friends Michael and Bonnie to go to the Wet Hot Skamerican Summer concert at the House of Blues Anaheim. I wasn’t familiar with any of the bands, but they were all quite entertaining, and I had a very nice night.

The show opened with Sugar Stems, an indie rock band from Milwaukee. They had a pleasant sound with a great vocalist. I really loved her voice. Now that I’m thinking of it, they remind me of Plumtree a bit. I’m not going to make specific comparisons because I’m tired, but they were excellent. The band consists of two married couples too!

Okay, I’m listening to them on Spotify right now. Wow, I really love them.

Next up was Papafish, who might have had the biggest following of all the bands if the audience was any indication. They were a fun ska/reggae band that played mostly original music. One song opened with synthesizers that reminded me of the Eurythmics’ Sweet Dreams. Makes sense because it really was a cover.

The middle act was the Angel City Records Soul Revue. The act kept the core band constant but rotated members between songs. It was a record label from LA that specializes in soul, R&B, ska, rocksteady, and reggae (according to their site), and that’s pretty much what I could infer from listening. It was nice to get some related genres that are little different than what I normally hear at a ska concert. Of course, it also helps that they were good. Their site indicates that they featured Jackie Mendez, Xavier Lynch, and The Soul Vibers.

The fourth act was Stupid Flanders, and they had great energy. They’re a ska band from Fullerton. Their music was great, sure, but those orange ties… oh boy!

The last band of the night was Half Past Two. They were excellent with a strong horn section and a lively, animated lead singer. She really knew how to work the crowd.

I’d be happy to see any of these bands again. I took a gamble going to a show consisting only of bands with which I wasn’t familiar, but it definitely paid off! Plus it was a lot of fun hanging out with my friends!