Syracuse Ska Forum

Okay, so I don't have any pictures from the actual show. But I do have pictures of the people I went with! Haha.


The imfamous Jeanee Dudley!


Mike, of course.


C'est moi! Je suis tres a la mode, je n'suis pas?


Our driver.


His bling.


Stopping at a gas station after the show.


Singing the 'I don't want to die' song.

Ahh, me. It was a fun night. And a crazy one too.
Fun stuff.
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I think this post would be better if there were pictures of the show.


But maybe it's just me

While we are (sorta) on the subject of Reel Big Fish live in Rochester, here is a (really crappily dubbed) short video from that show

Yeah, like I said, I didn't bring my camera in because I thought they'd take it away from me. It was a venue I'd never been to before and wasn't really sure what the deal with that was.

I don't really remember, but I don't think that anyone had cameras there, I think it was just a bunch of people with their camera phones taking pictures.

And yes, I agree, the post would have been much MUCH better if there'd been pictures from the actual show.

I don't.

Maybe it's just me, or does anyone else think the current RBF is just..sad? Pathetic maybe? I saw them 3 or 4 times between roughly 98 and 2000, and then at Skate and Surf in 2003..not sure if there was a more recent time. At any rate, the band lacks a lot of the goofiness and live energy they used to have. Maybe part of it is growing up and maturing, but I just don't think they are nearly as good as they used to be. It cracks me up how they seem to still demand a lot of money for shows, if I'm not mistaken their last few Rochester shows have been in the $18-$20 range. They were never that great of a band, but they were damn fun to see live.
-Mike

I dunno what it is, but this tour they seem like themselves again. I've seen them 16 times since November. The two shows in November were horrible, no energy whatsoever. The two shows in Febuary were better but very little energy, looked like they were going through the motions.

Then Justin got kicked out, John got more comfortable, the April shows were better, they were talking, joking, Aaron wasn't drunk all the time.

This summer is the best I've ever seen them, they've been f*cking around, playing old songs, and the guys seem happy to be together and to be playing again. One of the shows I saw in Anaheim, they played for nearly three hours.

They may not be the totally goofy Reel Big Fish of way back in the day, but they are back to being a great time live.

Nothing will ever be the same without Tyler Jones.

"you're the lead singer! take your show back!"

Personal relationship aside, John is a much better trumpet player and has much more stage presence than Tyler ever did, and I love Tyler.

Hey, one of my favorite bands is ASOB. Sometimes, a live show is less about playing songs perfectly and more about the energy and stage presence. Tyler may not have been a great trombonist, but he definitely kept the shows interesting. The between song banter was better pre-john. I have no issue with john. He does a great job and is a nice guy from what I've seen- and is DEFINITELY a better trumpet player than Tyler ever was. But there's always going to feel like something's missing.

It's like with Streetlight. Chris is a great bassist, but he'll never really fill Josh Ansley's shoes even though Chris is probably a better musician. Delano's just as good a trumpet player as Jamie Egan, but nothing's going to be the same without Jamie. I love the new guys- and I knew Delano before he was in the band, so I can vouch for the fact that he's a good dude (even if he thinks I tried to steal his cell phone), but I just miss the personality that Josh and Jamie brought to the band...

Tyler isn't better than John. Josh isn't better than Chris. Jamie isn't better than Delano. They're just different people. It's like going away to college. You'll love your college friends with all your heart, but they never really could replace your friends from home.

I posted this on the RBF board during a similar discussion:

John has more stage presence than Tyler, by far. It may not be the vocal stage presence, but if you watch him during the songs, he's always jumping around, singing, f*ck around, and it is A LOT more entertaining than anything else going on on stage.

Tyler is a great showman, and could always get the crowd hyped, and make them laugh by using the mic, just John has a lot more presence than Tyler, he just isn't vocal with his presence.

I seriously have found myself watching John and Dan more than the rest of the band, only because they are so damn entertaining. I've been to shows where stuff John and/or Dan has/have done has literally made me laugh out loud.

Every time I've seen them on this past tour, John has had more energy than the rest of the band combined.

On top of which, I'd much rather have someone play oustandingly well and be quiet, than have someone f*ck up every other note and be hilarious on the mic.

Hahaha, well, again, I'm an ASOB fan

Someone on the ASOB board was discussing some band and described them as the "best terrible band ever" and my reply was "so, you've never seen ASOB?"

There was a time at Bloomfield Avenue Cafe that Jeff was taking forever to tune and I just looked at him and said, "Hey, Jeff, since when was ASOB about sounding good?" He thought for a second and nodded, "Right..." and started the song without finishing tuning...

And I think you lost my point in my last post. Try to go back and read it again because I can't really think of anyway to put it. I'm not saying John has more or less of a stage presence really. I'm just saying they're different people...and I miss the personality Tyler brought despite the fact that John too brings his own to the stage.

Edit: Erm, I just realized you post wasn't so much a reply as something you thought seemed pertinent which explains why it doesn't really address my point...

I understand your point, but as you noticed, I thought it was pertinent to the discussion.

Change, whether it ends up being good or bad, is always difficult. It took me a while to get used to not seeing Tyler up there, but now I can't imagine seeing Reel Big Fish without John.