This time last week I was stumbling off the annual Ska Weekender harbour cruise. It is one brilliant way to hail in the Spring season of frivolities. Each year a collection of our friendly local and interstate ska bands gather together for an afternoon of classic covers on the harbour.
This year featured the Bennies with a set of Rancid & Operation Ivy, Son of Dad covering Reel Big Fish, Ebola Goldfish do the Police, as well as Sticky Fingers with a set of original music.
Beer, skanking, pizza and the motion of the ocean are a fun and often volatile combination. Fortunately there were no major incidents, aside from when the bar was closed for ten minutes while they ejected a rowdy ruffian who had punched the bar tender in the face. He was left at the nearest wharf, maintaining his bravado as he was boo-ed and jeered off the boat. Rumour suggests he may have been kicked off onto an island, and so the drunken lout was marooned me hearties.
Finished the evening with a nightcap of ska at the Landsdown Hotel, famed for its program of free live music and cheap pub grub.
If you only make one ska gig a year, this is it!
