What the World Needs Now is Ska Ska Ska

On the night before Velveeta Voldemort’s birthday 50 million dollar birthday parade and protests nationwide and beyond, I spent my entire evening in a room of hundreds of comrades – skanking along to ska-punk gems and chanting “Fuck Trump”. Not only was a night with Less than Jake and Suicide Machines a blast of nostalgia, but it was a reminder that ska music – by its very nature and history – is anti-fascist and anti-racist. From its inception in Jamaica to the Two Tone Movement to the arrival of the third wave here in the States, ska music never accepted racists and bigots. It was/is/forever will be a scene about unity and acceptance, with a history of being anti-racist from the start and an evolution of radical inclusivity and anti-fascism.

Memes mocking ska often highlight its cheesiness, including (as above) likening it to the music that plays in one’s head when they eat mozzarella sticks. And this is totally accurate. Ska is often cheesy and it’s hard not to conjure up a skankworthy tune while eating fried cheese – but ska is so much more. Ska and the third-wave and beyond variant ska-punk (that happens to be the focal point of the Summer Circus tour) are generally safe spaces for everyone besides the haters. Whether you’re a goth kid whose parents were born in India, a hardcore kid from the Bronx who just loves to skank despite what the tough guys in your scene think, a lesbian teenage girl that is struggling to come out to her parents, a non-binary twentysomething that’s finally discovering yourself, a black rapper from North Philly, or literally anything in between – this is a safe space. The only folks unwelcome are the fascist pigs and Nazi fucks who try to moonstomp their way in to spread hate and bigotry.

This is ska’s legacy – a music scene that seemingly finds a way to avoid those weird racist sub-scenes that nearly every style of music has. Being soaked in social politics of inclusion and fighting oppression since birth clearly has a lasting effect. And the legacy acts on this tour having been preaching unity, diversity, and acceptance since the 90s… or in the case of Fishbone, 1979. This isn’t new territory for the scene or for these bands, even the proverbial newcomers to this tour have been part of this scene for 6 years now. However, the messages of not tolerating intolerance, standing up to oppression, fighting alongside one another for the rights of all, and calling out bigotry are as need in 2025 USA as anywhere in world history.

While it seemed odd that the Philadelphia tour date wouldn’t include Philly’s own Catbite, who is on much of the rest of the tour, the lineup that did perform was stellar… and the illustrious Britt Luna did join ska-punk legends, The Suicide Machines, on stage for a killer live duet rendition of their beloved “High Anxiety” with legendary front man Jay Navarro. The lineup that did perform, however, was stellar front to back – from the first note of Bite Me Bambi’s “Too Many People” through the killer encore set from the evening’s main attraction, Less than Jake.

For this aging punk, Bite Me Bambi was the night’s only wildcard going in. Based on the rest of the acts on the night, I figured I’d enjoy them and figured I knew roughly I was in for. In both cases, I was correct. Their short but incredibly tight set was energetic and fun with some not-so-subtle antifascist banter thrown in, which was exactly what the crowd seemed to need on this night. A few stickers and a shirt were in order for a subsequent merch table run, of course.

The next act was the bucket list event, one of the scene’s most influential bands of all time – Fishbone. Sadly Norwood doesn’t tour with the band anymore, presumably due to his inability to get along with Angelo, but his replacement, the young James Jones, was every bit as proficient and emotive on stage as one could desire. Any punk, hepcat, or scenester who hasn’t had the chance to catch up with these living legends live needs to remedy that before it’s too late. Besides the obvious need for every human being to see Angelo Moore’s insanity live, Chris Dowd is every bit as powerful a vocalist and front man as Angelo. In fact, it was Dowd who led the crowd in a rousing “Fuck Donald Trump” chant and riled up the pits with the band’s recent single “Racist Piece of Shit”. From the familiar introduction of “Party at Ground Zero” through a set of some more classics and a few newer ones, Fishbone still shreds harder than your favorite metal band while providing reggae funk vibes that rival Parliament. Unity through music has always been Fishbone’s steez, which is needed now more than ever.

Damn near as impressive as the influence of Fishbone is the staying power of the final two bands of the night, formed in 1991 and 1992, respectively. Before Less than Jake took the stage, Jay Navarro and his troupe of punk rock chameleons hopped up for a set of furious punk rock and fast paced ska tunes. As noted earlier, Philly ska punk queen Britt Luna joined the Machines on stage for a fantastic cross generational duet. Alongside the best rendition of “High Anxiety” the audience could ever experience, The Suicide Machines performed songs from throughout their illustrious career, with standouts “S.O.S”, “Islands”, “New Girl”, and “Permanent Holiday”, among others.

After a brief break between sets, Less than Jake rocked the stage for well over an hour of killer renditions of songs spanning their career. Old punks (like me) were regaled with our favorites from their early days while the younger scene kids got to experience tracks from their recent albums and even a couple new ones. Like the bands the opened up for them, the Jake boys were unapologetic about their distaste for the current regime and their calls to fight together for unity and equity, whether playing their deeper and more introspective tracks or goofy covers of 90s cartoon theme songs. The highlights of the night were the perfect execution of the coming-of-age classic “Al’s War”, the raucous circle pit during “Plastic Cup Politics”, and the always infectious and ferocious anthem “Last One Out of Liberty City”.

From Bambi’s first note to the beloved Borders & Boundaries track “Look What Happened” closing the night, the show was one of killer tunes, nostalgic vibes, and a reminder of the hope that remains out there in the face of a regime trying to destroy democracy. Rise up, fight the power, and SKA SKA SKA!