Reel Big Fish – Gig Review & Photo Gallery 5th December @ 170 Russell, Melbourne VIC

Posted on December 6, 2019 by Tamara May

Reel Big Fish
170 Russell, Melbourne VIC
5th December 2019
Support: Area 7

Ho Ho Ho…Merry festival season! Christmas arrived two weeks early for the alternative music community last weekend as the second edition of Good Things Festival rolled into the country. The festivities began in Melbourne with a selected bunch of sideshows and pre-parties popping up all over the city on Thursday night. I decided to hit up the Reel Big Fish show in the city before joining in on the Simple Creatures DJ Set in Brunswick later that night.

I kinda arrived late to the venue, so I came in just as local support Area 7 were playing their final song. By that time though, 170 Russell was already pretty packed out and that’s always a good sign for support bands. Punters were excited, enjoying a drink or two (or several!) and getting a decent spot in preparation for the ska show that was about to commence.

I’ve seen Reel Big Fish several times now, and each time is just as much fun as the next. Tonight was no exception. The ska legends played many of their best loved songs, including ‘Sell Out’, where the vibe of that track will always take me back to Warped memories. A definite highlight of the show for me was hearing a ska-infused version of Jimmy Eat World’s ‘The Middle’ which was fucking awesome. The band’s tongue-in-cheek lyrics and song titles (‘Everyone Else Is An Asshole’, ‘Life Sucks…Let’s Dance!’) backed up by the brass instruments just makes for one fucking fun night! The group performed their classic take on ‘Take On Me’ before disappearing and reappearing for an encore performance of ‘Beer’, and even if you didn’t have an actual beer on hand, you still would have had a good time at the ska show.

Would highly recommend giving ska punk bands a go, especially Reel Big Fish. It’s rare to have a bad experience at these shows, the energy in the room was just too infectious not to get amongst it, and hell, I’m still not sick of seeing these guys live.

Gig review by Tamara May (@citylightsTAM)

Photo Gallery by Andrew Slaidins. Instagram @shot_by_slaidins
Please credit Wall of Sound and Andrew Slaidins if you repost any photos.

Area 7