Images: The Toasters, Mrs. Skannotto, The Remedies February 8, 2013 at the Hard Rock Café on the Strip

A sparse but passionate crowd gathered at the Hard Rock Café on the Strip Feb. 8 to see long-running ska band The Toasters with Rochester, New York’s Mrs. Skannotto and locals The Remedies.

With only three bands on the bill, everyone was given ample time to dig through their discographies, starting with locals The Remedies. While the bulk of local ska bands I’ve encountered in my years veer towards the more lighthearted, third-wave style, The Remedies have a much more traditional approach to the genre. They’ve been doing their thing for more than half a decade and they do it well, proving that there’s room in the scene for a variety of ska styles.

After their set, Paper + Plastick’s Mrs. Skannotto took to the stage. I first saw them when they opened for Less Than Jake at the same venue last year and was really impressed. Like I said in my previous review of the band, their name evokes a sillier, Reel Big Fish-style ska sound, but the bulk of their music has more in common with Telegraph and Jeff Davidson-era Catch 22. Mixed into their set are a few slower, reggae-tinged numbers reminiscent of Sublime, which is sure to give them a hefty crossover appeal (and those tunes definitely had people in the audience dancing along). At one point, the band dedicated a song to the crowd, prompting everyone to turn to the person on their left and grab onto their butt in what would be a dream show for Tina Belcher (everyone should be watching Bob’s Burgers).

By the time the Toasters took the stage the audience had multiplied into a nice cross section of ages going all the way down to the under-10 crowd. As soon as they came out, chants of “Kablam!” (the Nickelodeon show in which The Toasters’ “Two-Tone Army” serves as the theme) filled the room, but fans were treated to “Dog Eat Dog” before the definitive track was played. From there it was pretty much nonstop dancing and singing along and The Toasters, having been around for over 30 years, still sound flawless.

-Emily Matview | https://www.flickr.com/photos/holdfastnow/