A skanking excursion into Paradise Rock Club

"Big D and the Kids Table" performed at the Paradise Rock Club in Boston on Friday night. Not only had I never attended a concert in a club setting, I had never before seen a ‘ska' band perform. Ska is a music genre that originated out of Jamaica, which is now more punk with trumpets and saxophones.

At first, the experience was mildly terrifying. Upon arrival, I walked through the Paradise Lounge, the bar, with the "I'm-clearly-under-21-Xs" on our hands. I then made my way back through a dark hallway as the music got louder and louder. I only then realized that the tremendous noise was just the music being played during the break between bands.

I strategically missed the three opening acts, "Roll the Tanks," "Tip the Van," and "Hayley Jane and the Primates," as the doors opened at 6:30 but the main act did not come on stage until 9:42. They mostly comprised of 17- to 27-year-old men, as well at least a couple of middle school students and some 40- and 50-somethings.

"Big D and the Kids Table" included lead singer David McWane, Sean Rogan on guitar, Steve Foote on bass, Derek Davis on drums, Dan Stoppelman on Trumpet, Ryan O'Connor on Saxophone and three female backup singers. As it was their annual Halloween concert in Boston, the members all dressed as priests and nuns. The band is originally from Boston—in 1995, students from Berklee College of Music joined together to make the band.

I have never been terrified at a concert until I experienced "skanking," which is the way you dance to ska music. Essentially similar to moshing, skanking involves waving one's arms and kicking one's feet in a circle while trying to knock as many people over as physically possible without breaking one's own teeth.Crowd surfing was also very popular at this concert—security personnel had to constantly come on stage to help stranded crowd surfers onto their feet and off of the stage. My 17-year-old brother was coincidentally at the concert as well. In retrospect, I wish either he or I had not gone—the whole night I felt the sisterly urge to watch him to make sure he was not being trampled.

I was relieved to find him alive and unscathed after the show.

After half an hour or so of the conert, I was able to relax a little and start to enjoy (or understand why others enjoy) the event. The band truly cared about the audience. McWane said halfway through, "you know it's a good concert when the band is more excited to be playing than the audience is to be watching." McWane even spotted a few goings-on in the audience, returned a lost sweatshirt to a fan and connected with everyone there.

The band members drank beer instead of water, and the security guards all smiled as they dragged eager fans off the stage. Brian Dunnigan and Bryan Howard, the guitarists from one of the opening acts "Tip the Van," watched "Big D" from our wee balcony haven. They said, "Obviously we came to play, but we also came to watch one of our favorite bands."

Jake Sobel, a Wellesley High School junior, who left with a small bruise on his cheek and a text from his mother saying he better be home by curfew, enjoyed the concert. "The only disappointment I have is that almost all the songs they played were off of their new album," Sobel said.

Kirstin Dorozynski '12 said she had the best birthday ever—she crowd surfed for the first time.

Although a very tiring and overwhelming night, this will not be my last last trip to the Paradise Rock Club. My body is still recovering from the pounding beat that felt like bombs going off in my chest and feet.

Now all I have to do is learn how to skank.