Images: Be Like Max, Mercy Music, Yotam, No Red Alice January 22, 2016 at 11th Street Records

For a bunch of self-proclaimed “rudies,” the kids at last weekend’s Be Like Max show sure were polite. Each bump into a more casual fan standing around the floor’s perimeter was followed with a quick “sorry” and stopping to pick up everyone who fell while skanking on the venue’s appropriately checkered floor as the band played “Wang Out,” “Bring on the Suits” and a cover of Kid Dynamite’s “Cheap Shot Youth Anthem.”

I don’t think I’ve seen this type of fervent reaction to a local ska band since catching Attaboy Skip at The Sanctuary in the late 90s, and the band has earned it through relentless touring and recording.

This show, held in the backroom of 11^th Street Records, acted as both the kickoff to Be Like Max’s latest trek and the midway point to the tour of fellow locals Mercy Music. The floor during the Mercy Music’s set was decidedly older and, as such, less active than during Be Like Max. But we were excited in our own subdued, toes tapping kind of way to hear some new songs, which made up about half of the band’s set and found them continuing down a punk meets college rock path well established many years prior by bands like the Replacements and Husker Du.

This was my first time seeing the punk rock trio plugged in with new drummer Rye Martin and he proved to be a perfect fit, kicking up the pace on songs like “Fine” and “Undone” as well as providing backing vocals.

Mercy is touring with punk troubadour Yotam, who many of our readers probably know as the frontman for pop/skate punks Useless I.D. This show cemented him as one of my favorite punk-goes-acoustic acts, up there with Chuck Ragan and Tim Barry. And it’s more than just the songs, though tracks like “Where is the Time” and “California Sounds” are guaranteed to get stuck in your head for days. It was his conversation between the songs that made his performance, which happened despite the singer/songwriter saying the short set time allotted to him was going to result in “less talk/more rock.”

Standing in front of the “stage” with no microphone, he is a warm presence, regaling the crowd of around 20 or so with stories of growing up, staying stupid, failed relationships and seeing Anti Flag in the same venue a year ago. And when he encouraged people to sing along, such as the chorus of “Pet Sematary,” he’s rivaled only by Koji in making it feel natural and not forced.

Like Yotam, the highlight of opener No Red Alice’s set was also crowd interaction. NRA, a.k.a Sal Giordano, works best when he’s playing off the crowd, and he had ample opportunity when be heckled to play – or not to play – “Wagon Wheel” (spoiler: he played it, with a little help from his TheCore bandmate Brock Frabbiele.)

This show was part of a Cher-like series of farewell dates for No Red Alice, who will be hanging up his acoustic for an electrified full band incarnation sometime this year. While it will be sad to say goodbye to the songs as we know them, I know I’m excited to hear how the full band treatment of “Saint Josephine” turns out.

-Emily Matview

Photos by Aaron Mattern | https://www.flickr.com/photos/akmofoto/