Once en route to a concert, I have never been deterred from actually making it to the show. However, on this particular night, my streak found itself in serious jeopardy of being broken as I cut across the quad on the way to Canopy Club and stumbled upon an outdoor showing of what is unquestionably one of the greatest movies ever filmed: Back to the Future.
Although my heart begged my feet to stay and watch, my mind eventually won out and I proceeded on my way to watch student group Underpaid Packy, along with two acts I was unfamiliar with: The Skalalitabs and Ladymoon. (Besides, I knew I could just watch the Michael J. Fox classic on tape when I got back home. Yes, I do in fact own the movie on VHS.)
Kicking off the intimate Void Room show was The Skalalitabs, a group of University of Illinois students from Downers Grove. Although the sight of three of the six band members standing up on stage with trumpets and a saxophone in hand initially made me a little leery, my fears soon subsided when I discovered that the group was pretty much everything a ska band should be: a fun-loving bunch who see it as a sin to take themselves too seriously.
Beginning with their instrumental intro (50 Cent’s “In Da Club”) and continuing through tongue-in-cheek originals about bowling (“7/10 Split”), wooden walkways (“Gangplank”) and breakfast food (“The Waffle Song”), The Skalatitabs turned in an entertaining – if a bit overlong – set that was also peppered with a copious number of cover songs (including tunes from Catch-22, Less Than Jake, The Toasters and the ubiquitous Todd Rundgren ode to wanting to do nothing but hit the skins, “Bang The Drum All Day”).
Clearly still in the process of getting their feet underneath them while struggling to put together a permanent line-up (as evidenced when the lead singer was introducing everyone and forgot the saxophonist’s name), The Skalatitabs have the potential to become a fun frat-party band over the next year. And, as an English major, I have to appreciate the wordplay inherent in their name – which is apparently a pun in Arabic (visit their Myspace for a complete explanation).
Afterwards, not wanting to sit around in the interim, I ducked out to catch what I could of Back to the Future before the next act took to the stage. Luckily, the timing was fantastic and I got to see the film’s most iconic scene: Marty McFly performing “Johnny B. Goode” at his parents’ high school dance. However, because I got caught up in the action for longer than I anticipated, I only managed to make it back to Canopy in time for half of the set from an Indianapolis, IN jam band.
Although I’ve never really understood the appeal of watching people play their instruments without vocals for an extended period of time (no matter how skilled they may be), the three members of Ladymoon entranced the crowd with their epic solos and overall music prowess. While a few interesting tricks, twists and rhythms here and there captured my attention, I was perhaps most impressed by the fact that bassist Kris Potts managed to pull off his endurance plucking with a broken thumb (the result of a Wii mishap the night before). In sum (to paraphrase a line from Flight of the Conchords), they’re good at what they do, if what they do is what you’re into.
At long last, nearly two-and-a-half hours after the scheduled start time, Underpaid Packy took to the platform. As evidenced by the fair amount of people who were squeezed into the room’s tiny space, the five piece band – which was named Student Band of the Year at the Local Music Awards and currently enjoys a twice-a-month residency at Canopy Club – seems to be building up quite a buzz in town, no easy feat in the relatively dead summer months. On top of all this, the quintet was still celebrating the release of its debut album, Tales From A Fifth Street Roof, being sold at a small merch table for the slightly outrageous price of $10 (which was also highly ironic for a band named Underpaid Packy).
Having only heard the jam band-sounding track “Masterpiece” on WPGU, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from the group and ended up being a bit surprised by the schizophrenic mix of genres it served up from track to track. From a slow jamz/blues number to the 311-esque “Don’t Do It” to a couple of more danceable rock tunes (all flowing with an undercurrent of jazz), Underpaid Packy fused together a diverse variety of sounds that seemed mainly to avoid pigeonholing rather than promote proficiency in any one area. Although the somewhat sizeable audience seemed to be having a good time no matter what type of music was being thrown their way, I found much of the material to be hit or miss – sometimes melodic and grooving, at other moments stagnant and monotonous.
At one point, though, the band did manage to bring a smile to my face with its unexpected cover of the Huey Lewis and the News lite rock radio staple “If This Is It” – a totally appropriate choice in light of the night’s Back to the Future overtones.
