Nearly 15 years after seeing the Bosstones perform last, I was able to catch their stop at the Fillmore last night with a sold out crowd who were ready to party! And speaking of the crowd, what a great mix of people from all ages and colors! In fact, midway through the show, Dickie (the lead singer) pulled a shy 8 year old boy and his dad up to join the band on stage, which was a pretty funny moment where Dickie admitted to being one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet with one of the scariest voices you'll ever hear. A quick tidgit of info: over the past few years, Dickie has been the announcer for the Jimmy Kimmel show on ABC.
For those of you new to the Bosstones, the band's music is described as ska-core and consists of your typical guitar, bass and drums, but is also augmented with a 3-piece brass section and of course, Ben Carr, the Bosstone's dancer. Ben is absolutely amazing and makes me tired just watching him. He'll dance through the entire show, and you should see the sweat he works up!
As for last night, the band came onstage promptly at 11pm and played continuously through 'till about 12.20am where they took a quick break for Dickie to change into a dry t-shirt and then returned to the stage for 3 last songs.
The set list consisted of the following (credit due to PolarPenguin of the Bosstones boards):
- The Rascal King
- Devil's Night Out
- Simmer Down
- Jacknike
- 1-2-8
- Na na na na na
- Someday I Suppose
- Let Me Be
- Desmond Dekker
- Rudie can't Fail
- Illegal Left
- Royal Oil
- He's Back
- Hell of a Hat
- All Things Considered
- Almost Anything Goes
- Another Drinkin' Song
- Where'd You Go
- Dr. D
- The Impression That I Get
- Tin Soldiers
- Old School Off the Bright
- Wallet
- Holy Smoke
You'll also notice that I couldn't get that steady of a shot... This wasn't because I was drunk, but because there were so many people dancing that the Fillmore floor was actually bouncing under the weight of everyone!
The Rascal King (the show opener):
The Impression That I Get:
Unfortunately, the Bosstones are only playing a handful of shows along the west coast during this swing. But they did mention that they're planning to put out a new album later this year before the holidays. So I would suspect that they'll continue to play short bursts of shows across the country when possible.
As a matter of pure chance, before the show I got to meet Dickie while we were hanging out in one of the Fillmore lounges. The picture isn't great of either one of us primarily because my camera was acting up! Dickie graciously waited for this 3rd attempt for the flash to finally go off. Clearly the camera has taken a beating during all the shows I bring it to! Anyway, here's the very bad shot of Dickie and I before the show. As he'll admit, he's one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet!
