the Aggrolites, Reegal Beegal, Rudie Crew, Halfway Crooks - Sullivan Hall, New York, NY (04.16.08)

Since my world got flipped upside down a year ago, I've made it a point to not just sit around and let life pass me by.  So, 4pm on Wednesday while I sat at my desk fixing graphics, I decided to hop the soonest bus to NYC to catch the Aggrolites.  No change of clothes, no plans for anything, my only plan was to get up there to see the Aggrolites.  The bus didn't leave until 5:30pm, so I wouldn't get up there until 10pm and I was fine with that as long as I wasn't going to miss their set.  I admit, I was partially motivated on going because my best friend decided to go and that made me a little jealous.  It was also his first time really getting to see them, so I kind of wanted to be there for that.  You know, it's one of those best friends things you do - like going to his wedding and house warming party, you have to be there for his first Aggrolites show.

I missed Halfway Crooks' and Rudie Crew's sets.  I walked in toward the end of Reegal Beegal's set.  Vinny Nobile of Pilfers/Bim Skala Bim fame plays with them.  They were good, but not really my thing.  I don't know what it is, but I'm not really the biggest fan of that NYC ska sound.  Maybe it's me being spoiled by the bands of DC's hey-day.  I ran into some people that weren't expecting to see me and that was pretty funny when they did a double take when I walked by.  I probably should have called and let them know I was on my way, but seriously I was so focused on getting to the show I kind of forgot.  Anyway, the Aggrolites.  I think they played an hour and a half, but it seemed like time flew.  It's the momentum and the intensity they bring that makes you dance and forget about everything else.  They did songs like "Work To Do", "Countryman Fiddle", "Faster Bullet", and my favorite "Free Time".  A few of my friends left in the middle of the set saying they had work in the morning, which um... so did I, but I wasn't leaving.  My best friend left too, and I was a little disappointed by that, but he kept telling me how sick Roger was on keys.  I think this show was better than their NYC show last summer, but I think the season and room temperature had a lot to do with it.

At one part of the set Jesse asked if we liked punk and then the band would play a few seconds of punk.  Then he asked if we like psychobilly and they'd play a little of that.  It kind of got you wondering where he was going with it.  He asked if we liked soul (hells yes!) and they ended up covering "Ain't Too Proud to Beg".  It was all pretty sweet.  For the encore they did the Banana song (awesome!!!1one) and this insane medley of 2Tone and old school reggae covers.  It was nuts.  They started off with "Skinhead Moonstomp" and did songs like "On My Radio", "Lip Up Fatty", "Police and Thieves", and a bunch of others.  Seriously these guys don't miss a beat and it's always so OMFG!  And these medley things they do always catch me off guard.  It's kinda like when you're watching your favorite college hoops team and they're down by six with five seconds left in the game; and they're making impossible play after impossible play perfectly and they end up smashing the rival team.  Yea, it's like that.  Granted, I've probably lost half of you with that, but trust me, it's like that.  And that's why I love seeing them live.  Yup, it's definitely worth the trek.