Once again, it is time for a concert review. This time, it focuses on The Aquabats!, a ska punk/new wave-inspired band from Orange County, CA, that has its own lore and has its members perform under kayfabe names. On this tour, which had a special Halloween theme, they were supported by fellow SoCal bands sullvn and Manic Hispanic.
sullvn (pronounced like "Sullivan"), led by Robert "Sully" Sullivan and featuring members who've worked with Elton John, No Doubt and The Beat, among others, was the first band of the night. Pretty decent-sounding band, I think. Their sound blends ska punk with other influences, including R&B and soul music. During the later part of their set, they brought out The Aquabats!' own MC Bat Commander (albeit in plain clothes as opposed to the spandex he wears when performing with his own band) to help them with a Mighty Mighty Bosstones cover, as well as one of their original songs. That was pretty nice to see, I have to say. I may possibly check out more of their music if I can find time to.
Next up was Manic Hispanic, a punk supergroup that I would personally describe as Weird Al meets the Ramones meets Cheech and Chong. I say this because they predominately play parodies of old punk and other rock songs, but with a lot of Chicano humor and slang added to the mix. That is quite interesting, to say the least. It's not really my thing overall, though I did laugh at their humor and I also recognized two of the songs they parodied: "Pinhead" by the Ramones, and "American Girl" by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Notably, they did have fans in the audience. Also, like sullvn, they brought out the MC Bat Commander to help on a song.
Last but not least, it was The Aquabats!' time to entertain us. They are another band I had seen live before, in the same venue, but that was way back in 2008. A lot has happened since then. The members of The Aquabats! are: The MC Bat Commander on lead vocals, Eaglebones Falconhawk and Chainsaw the Prince of Karate on guitars, Gorney (filling in for regular member Crash McLarson) on bass, Johnny Christmas on trumpet (he is also the trumpeter for Reel Big Fish), Jimmy the Robot on saxophone, and Keymaster Minh (filling in for regular member Catboy) on keyboards.
As this was a Halloween show, a lot of the setlist reflected this. songs such as the set opener "Fashion Zombies!", from their 2005 album Charge!!, along with older songs like "Cat With 2 Heads!", "Tarantula!" and "Attacked by Snakes!", and newer songs like "Skeleton Inside!", "Dr. Space Mummy!" and "Where Is Walter Fang?!" really hammered in the point very well.
No matter if the show has a theme or not, one thing that is always guaranteed at an Aquabats! performance is audience participation. On this night, there was a costume contest, which was won by a boy dressed as a monster from a movie I didn't recognize, as well as a young lady dressed up as the titular Martian girl from their song "Martian Girl!". In keeping with the Halloween theme further, they threw candy into the audience at various points. Other audience participation elements included the use of inflatable pooltoys during "Pizza Day!", "Attacked by Snakes!", "The Shark Fighter!" and "Pool Party!". At certain points, the MC Bat Commander also opened up water bottles and splashed the audience with them; this specifically happened to me during "Tarantula!". Thankfully, I was able to prepare for it.
They kept with the Halloween theme once more when they opened the encore dressed as the members of Korn while performing their nu metal parody song "I Fell Asleep on My Arm!". The band introductions came after this. Each member performed a snippet of a song on their respective instruments; these included "Immigrant Song" by Led Zeppelin, "Brass Monkey" by the Beastie Boys, and "Take on Me" by a-ha.
A 1-2-3 punch of "The Shark Fighter", along with the classics "Super Rad!" and "Pool Party!", ended the encore, which is a great way to end a show, I think. During "Super Rad!", the MC Bat Commander came off the stage up to the front barricade to interact with everyone. During the first part of the song, he gave us high fives, and then he gave hugs to the kids he saw. I also ended up getting hugged. There was a young girl behind me but since I was there at the front, I ended up getting most of it. That's alright.
One final highlight came during "Pool Party!", when the MC Bat Commander crowdsurfed into the audience. While I've seen this happen before at metal shows, I don't recall anyone getting as deep into the audience as he did. It was really impressive.
If you have not seen The Aquabats! live before, what are you waiting for? It's not your typical concert. It's a whole experience.
Full setlist:
