When walking into a basement room of Shriver Hall, Reel Big Fish's lead singer, Aaron Barrett, and bassist, Matt Wong, were slumped back on a couch, munching on sandwiches and watching "Family Guy" on their laptop. Despite their popularity in the ska-punk scene, these sarcastic self-proclaimed "band geeks" are just like the average ordinary Joes, except funnier, crazier, and more able to rock Hopkins.
Reel Big Fish performed last Friday night in Shriver Hall. The Pietasters, in support of their new album "Turbo," opened to a half-filled, but eager crowd. With the crowd seated quietly, it seemed that a mellow night was in store. However, after opening with the song "Can't Stand It," the fun, spirited and lively attitude of the Fairfax, Virginia-based band transformed Shriver Hall into a live and hoppin' music venue, complete with people crowding towards the front and within the aisles of the auditorium. Despite the tight security, frontman Steve Jackson allowed several members of the audience to get up on stage and dance. After closing the set with "Somebody," the Pietasters' lively performance succeeded in warming up the crowd for an all-out chaotic set from Reel Big Fish.
Reel Big Fish's performance at Hopkins was their last before traveling overseas to Japan. They have already toured around the world in places such as London, Tokyo and Switzerland, and have brought back many crazy memories. At one show while on tour, a man threw his prosthetic leg on the stage. At another show in Tokyo, Aaron humorously recalled fans mouthing their songs without understanding the lyrics. We had a chance to sit down with Aaron and Matt before the concert.
While working on their new album, Reel Big Fish, influenced by bands such as Led Zeppelin, Sublime and the Darkness, has been performing at colleges around the country while they work towards their goal of becoming "rich and famous and dating hot actresses," said frontman Aaron Barrett. (Sorry girls, he has the hots for Goldie Hawn or either of the Olsen Twins.) The band views ska as staying the same at the core but being affected by the changing trends in the music industry. "Ska is like pasta: It takes whatever is going on and adds it as toppings," said bassist Matt Wong. Although the music industry right now is filled with pop music, Wong believes that the ska scene is not dead, but rather, making a comeback.
One of the recent controversies in the music industry has been file sharing. Although some bands are against this practice because they feel they are cheated out of their money, smaller bands such as Reel Big Fish are for any means through which to gain more exposure. "I think [file sharing] is awesome because it gets our music out there. Record companies get to know how it feels to get f***ed out of royalties," said Barrett. He claimed that the band doesn't receive much money from the sale of their albums.
Humor is what keeps Reel Big Fish going on the road. Even the name of the band itself is not to be taken seriously. "I don't know how we thought of the name," said Barrett. "It's stupid but it's just one of those things that stuck with us." Although the name has stuck, the original band members have not. "We have had more people out of the band than in," said Wong. Wong and Barrett are the only remaining founding members of the band.
When asked what they would be doing if Reel Big Fish did not exist, Barrett proudly proclaimed "I would be a serial killer or a dentist," while Wong took the more conservative route of attending college and "probably getting married." These guys sure love each other; even if they were starved for food, Barrett would "rather die than eat these motherf*ckers," with which Wong agreed wholeheartedly.
Their humor is apparent in their songs and stage presence. Throughout the performance, they were constantly entertaining the crowd with spontaneous moments, such as when Tyler Jones (a trumpet player and the "only black guy in the band," according to him) rolled around in a wheelchair, and Scott Klopfenstein (another trumpet player) had a seductive, but prolonged conversation with a girl through a random audience member's cell phone.
In their roughly hour-and-a-half set, Reel Big Fish revved up the crowd with favorites such as "Beer," "Sell Out," "She Has a Girlfriend Now," and their famous rendition of A Ha's "Take on Me," while adding variety to their setlist by playing both old and new material. Reel Big Fish is the first ska-punk band to perform at Johns Hopkins University in two years. Although their upbeat music was not groundbreaking or exceptional, Reel Big Fish succeeded in giving the fans a different and lively concert experience, complete with light moshing and crowd-surfing, in the same hall where professors walk around in silly robes during convocation.
