My buddy Nick lives in L.A. now, but we used to share an office a few years ago back when we sold digital printing in Mira Mesa. This was just a few months after moving to San Diego, so he was one of the first guitar players I ever met. In fact, it was through answering a Reader ad for a bass player that we met and I found out about that print shop, which would come in handy since I found myself in need of a job not long after. For the past 8 years, I never saw him play an actual music gig until tonight.

But first, the Amalgamated were up.



This is what I get for posting the photos of my last visit here unprocessed, thinking I finally figured out how to shoot here. Now I have to do justice to 19 total band members in two bands. Sheesh.



The percussionist Chris does all those cool fliers for several venues like the Radio Room and the Royal Dive. Here's the one he made for this show.



I can appreciate ska music live, but it's just not my thing for listening to in the car. These guys play it well, but the songs all kind of sound the same. Peppy, bouncy, happy music, but not incredibly diverse. Good for dancing though, which quite a few people did.



I'm not sure if he was going for the "upright bass" look, or if he was just trying to stay out of the way for the rest of the crowd of musicians on stage.





Chris and this trombone player are engaged. Awww, ska is for lovers....

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Nick has always been into Reggae and other forms of Jamaican music, so it was no surprise to me that he joined a ska band a couple months ago.



What did surprise me was how good Kingston A Go-Go is.



Nick played the same skanky(?) guitar rhythms as the other band, but the overall sound was much deeper. The basslines were dubby-er, and the whole band was tighter. The musicians all seemed a few years older, and thus more experienced. Their lead singer had a much more commanding stage presence as well.
 


Both of them, actually.



And she plays a mean 'bone too.





Lots of horns make for a nice big sound. They even had me dancing for a few seconds.





What made this an even better night out is having plenty of friends to chat with, including a couple people who Nick and I used to work with who I haven't seen in a while. It was fun catching up and this music made a perfect backdrop for that.

Oh, and nice boots by the way.