Heineken Skank Party
Melkweg, Amsterdam November 19th 1998

Most times when a beer brewery has some amount of money to spend, it goes to uselss things. This time they somehow got smart and organized a Skank party through the Netherlands. Not just a Skank party, but one w/ Postmen, Hepcat, Scofflaws, New York Ska Jazz Ensemble and Laurel Aitken. Only to see Laurel Aitken is enough for me to go to that show. It all started a bit late but I made sure in advance that I didn't have to worry about catching the last train home.

So, when I entered the building The Scofflaws just started playing. Not many people were in the mood to skank. They didn't impress me that much, but I knew almost none of their songs. Maybe if I listen to some more stuff I might like it. After that it was time for New York Ska Jazz Ensemble, which was a lot better. It even got me in a moving mood. I was paying more attention to the lyrics, because I've never heard any of their songs either. At the end of this show I went to the other room to watch The Postmen, the only band from the Netherlands at this party. Their music is like the Vu-gees mixed w/ Ska. I didn't like it and left after a couple of songs.

Next up was the Godfather of Ska, Mr. Laurel Aitken. The New York Ska Jazz Ensemble supported him with the musical part. From the beginning people were skanking their asses off. This was relly great, watching this old man sing and all. Even mixing two songs into one. A lot of old Ska songs were sung, like Longshot Kick the Bucket and Rudy Got Married. After this huge amount of fun, it was time for Hepcat. The Max was packed with people. It was sometimes hard to Skank. Somehow playing after Laurel Aitken wasn't a good thing. They never came close with their Jamiacan Ska from the 60ies, although they put up a good show.

Copyright © 1998 Marcel Etten