Syracuse Ska Forum

I was wonderign what city does everyone think has the best ska scene? including shows and the crowd.

I think chicago is nice...

Three guesses who Mike will vote for...

...and the first two don't count.

Yeah, I've experienced the Chicago ska scene and it definitely has nice shows and kids that go to them.

I think the Los Angeles ska scene is tough to beat in terms of numbers of shows, fans and wide diversity of both. In fact,, if we're just talking LA County alone, I'd argue there are at least 4 distinct ska scenes, including a HUGE Hispanic ska scene that regularly hosts ska bands from Mexico, for example. How crazy cool is that? The shows you all hear about are primarily on the Westside, including the famous Bluebeat Lounge hosted by Chris Murray in Hollywood.

And that's not counting the adjacent ska scenes in the Inland Empire (home to the Voodoo Glow Skulls (yeah!) and Orange County (don't get me started about OC ska, okay?).

Yeah, I was going to say... somewhere in southern California probably.

Well, Southern California is a BIG place. The entire state is almost 36 million and about 2/3 of that is in the south. LA County is 9.5 million, Orange Co is 3 million, Inland Empire is 3 million, San Diego is 3 million ...

The Syracuse METRO (which includes Onondaga, Madison, Oswego and Cayuga counties) is 732, 000. It's anything but a fair comparison.

I'd kinda like to see OC Ska kinda just accidently slip and fall into the ocean and drift waaaaaaaay out to sea. Maybe drift to a remote island somewhere, where all the brightly colored bands and fans can circle skank around said island all day long?

They're sort of like my signature.

Obnoxious, bright, flashy, and has been known to cause seizures.

I concur.

Of the scenes I've gone to shows in, I'd have to say Jersey probably has the best scene with NYC just behind it and Syracuse just behind NYC. But I've only been to shows pretty much in the Northeast

Not all OC ska is bad nor are all the fans there morons. But when MTV and others decided unilaterally that Orange County CA was the "capital" of US ska, it created a big black hole that we've never fully recovered from.

That said Ska Joe of OC Ska is the same one who booked the talent for Ska Summit in Las Vegas, which included The Selecter, Fishbone, Neville Staples of The Specials, Let's Go Bowling, Go Jimmy Go, etc., etc. So, don't blame Ska Joe for everything ...


I haven't been to NJ or NYC shows yet, but I hear good things about them. The one Long Island show I attended completely reminded me of shows in Syracuse. I know the people who do the Bronx Underground and they do quality shows, but who in NYC would consider those NYC shows?

I probably would. Then again, I kind of think of the LI scene and the NYC scene as one. Shows are pretty similar. LI crowds tend to be younger is the only difference I've noticed (cause I guess those of us who can get into the city at night are those whose parents don't need to drive us).

I went to the Bronx Underground once and it was one of the weirdest shows I've ever been to, but mostly because of the line-up. It was like three hardcore bands from BX and then The Vagabonds, Bomb the Music Industry!, and Taj Motel Trio. So, there were like 5 ska kids and a billion hardcore kids. Didn't help that the "Ska" bands were all from out of the area (vagabonds and btmi are LI and taj is down south-ish somewhere). It was really strange


And I agree that not all OC ska is terrible. It's not terrible by any means. I think a lot of it sounds the same. It also just seems to get blown out of proportion. You get sick of hearing about how the OC is the home of ska or whatever when they just keep doing the same thing over and over. Other bands are doing things different, better, and new elsewhere. That's what should be getting the attention. Hell, i mean, bands like Mad Caddies and RxBandits aren't OC (forgive me if that's wrong, i don't know that much about cali/the cali scenes) and they're probably two of the best things to come from the west coast in recent memory.

I've never got the impression there are a ton of kids in The Bronx into ska, so mixing up the shows makes a ton of sense.


There are a TON of GREAT West Coast ska bands. The vast majority just aren't well known on the East Coast.

Mad Caddies are from the Santa Barbara area, which is nowhere near OC. It's quite a ways from LA too, actually. RxBandits I think are from Seal Beach (same general area as Sublime), which geographically is near OC, but in every other way, is nowhere near OC.

Orange County is actually more diverse than most people realize. It's home to Little Saigon, the largest Vietnamese community in the US. There are other minorities as well and not everyone there is rich. BUT the rich white kids (a la The OC) are a dominant factor and they've dominated the ska scene there. FWIW, No Doubt is from Anaheim, which is a lot like Liverpool, while much of OC is like Skaneateles.

BTW, Los Angeles is a LOT more diverse than OC, but again, the rich white kids (which in LA are a decided minority) get most of the attention. Heck, downtown LA isn't even anywhere near the ocean, in spite of the way it's always portrayed on TV and in movies (which always makes me laugh).

does that mean that rx bandits are well qualified to represent the LBC?

well, they did cover "saw red"

wow what a terrible song to cover.

Wow you are so arrogant. You say everything is terrible. You are such an elitest.

the rx bandits are NOT well qualified to represent the LBC... and never will be well qualified.