Streetlight Manifesto/ The Supervillans/ The Wonder Years/ Dan Potthast - Starland Ballroom, Sayreville, NJ - June 26, 2010

By Phil Rainone and Tim Norek
Photos by Tim Norek

“In the summertime when the weather is hot/ You can stretch right out and find a spot/ Have a drink, have a drive/Go out and see what you can find.” - “Summertime” by Mungo Jerry

Dan Potthast opened on what was a hot, steamy, June evening (mercifully we were inside Starland - hey, what happened to those cool, outdoors Summer Campout shows?). With just an acoustic guitar in hand, he and the crowd quickly warmed up to each other. With a few jokes, and what seemed like a lifetime of stories (Dan looked to be in his late 20’s), he held them for his well-rounded thirty minute set.

Seeming both nerdy and hip, Potthast walks the line with self-confidence and tongue-in-cheer humor. Songs about the KKK, adopt-a-highway plan, and the funniest/coolest song I’ve heard so far this year, “Eat The Planet.” The latter song which could easily apply to ANY musician who plays their own songs, and ALWAYS gets asked to play Skynyrd, or some Neanderthalic knuckle-dragger’s asinine request, with lines like, “Play some Skynyrd asshole/There’s a douchebag in every crowd.”

Bringing a few new musical colors to the genre, hard core punk band The Wonder Years ripped through their set with fast/mosh/shout/chant maneuvers with explosive power and remarkable tightness. These no-nonsense, thrashing punk rock songs had the positively and passion flowing between the band and the crowd. The Wonder Years introduced their ‘core rhythms with defiant statements about racism, senseless violence, and sexism, all for all the right reasons. “If you’re not happy with your life, where you’re going, or where you’ve been - do something about it.” That was the unofficial theme that the band refreshed in our minds throughout their set

Using loud guitars and a primitive (very cool) rhythm section The Wonder Years set was bursting at the seams with literate and challenging punk rock music, with anthemic proclivities. This is another outing (including all four artists), that is easy-to-like from a natural energy source that will, thank goodness, never be fashionable.

Part of what made this show so interesting and unique was the genre flexibility that turned it from a no-brainer (Streetlight Manifesto and The Supervillans both played scrumptious ska sets) into a mixed evening with two ska bands, one punk band, and a singer-songwriter. Every band brought their “A” game - melodies, hooks, and the rock and rolling spunk of each genre, with tons of positive energy running rampant this night.

The Supervillans kicked out its jams and grinning grooves with fierce dispatch, spiking its punch with snaky dub leads. While unquestionably knocking my socks off (first time I’ve seen the band), with a opening instrumental that had the thump and pump of reggae, like fellow Floridians Less Than Jake, they set the tone for Streetlight, and could have easily been the headlining band as well.

To bake a mind-altering cake nowadays, you’ve got to whip up a few juicy jams. The Supervillans are content to let the music be its own hallucinogen. Unlike bands who get all cutesy with their pop ska trappings (Pepper easily comes to mind), The Supervillans are a throwback as well as a look forward. Their 4th Wave Ska gets you all excited like being at a Professor Plum show (old-school ska from the 90’s), and also takes you back to the future with their own special brand of toasting, as they lay down a thick-pile carpet of authentic reggae/ska guitar licks, Neanderthalic rhythm section, and a killer trumpeter! And who doesn’t LOVE a Billy Joel cover?! Actually they aced their non-traditional cover of “Movin’ Out.” They turned a mundane original into a house-rockin’, temperature-risin’ remake that had EVERYONE singing in unison!

Throughout their set they explored, cajoled, and reshaped decisively melodic songs with wholehearted enthusiasm, making them the self-appointed disciples of soulful ska!

Energetically running through a retrospective set, including a few Catch 22 numbers from “Keasbey Nights,” Streetlight Manifesto’s set was tight, proficient, and anything but routine-sounding. Things started heating up right from the start. Actually, with the bonus dynamics of the four-piece horn section, the band along with the crowd roared along throughout their hour and a half set. That along with a well-oiled band (drums, bass, guitar,) they ensured listener participation in the form of singing along to EVERY song. - moshing/crowd surfing, and in general, having a blast!!

Major and mini pits broke out like wildfires! A hot steamy night outdoors, turned into a blazing, sweaty, show indoors, as the band’s scorching set lit up the crowd, inciting gang-vocals on almost every song. At one point toward the end of their set, Tomas Kalnoky (lead songer/guitarist), mentioned that he was starting to lose his voice, so with just a couple of prompts on the next song the whole joint sang from start to finish. You would have thought that everyone was joined at the hip, between the singing, moshing, circle pits, and crowd surfing.- Smiles all around!

Streetlight’s wicked cool cover of The Dead Milkmen’s “Punk Rock Girl” sent the faithful into frenzy! The only song to top it that night was their cover of Catch 22’s “9mm and a Three Piece Suit,” which brought the night full circle (Tomas was an original member of Catch 22, and was born in Keasbey, NJ).

Encoring with “Sick and Sad” and two originals, if the floodgates han’t been beaten down earlier, they surely were now! Hot, sweaty, and reinvigorated, the band and their fans had their maximum mojo workin’!

“Unity” was the best way to describe the vibe as everyone was in unison, singing, dancing, and enjoying the evening, as several mosh pits erupted simultaneously!

This is what New Jersey can be like on a hot summer night in June. You just feel like that after a show like this, almost anything is possible. For me, and I can pretty much speak for Tim, it doesn’t get any better than this!