Live Shows: The Slackers, Mustard Plug, The Freecoasters, & Stop the Presses, The Sinclair, Cambridge, MA 12/18/23
A four band ska bill on a Sunday night? Sometimes when it's this good, you have to suck it up and go out on a work night, pretending you still have the energy you used to. The Slackers and Mustard Plug have bands I've been meaning to see for a while now, and The Freecoasters and Stop the Presses ended up being happy discoveries! Stop the Presses opened up the show with an upbeat blend of horn free ska. They were cheery and upbeat, since this is ska and all, but the band had a bit of a hidden edge to them. They might not have been the most punk band of the night in their sound, but they were in their attitude. They even busted out a ska cover of Bikini Kill's "Rebel Girl." (Ska covers ended up being a theme of the evening.) Unfortunately, I missed some of their set as they started before the advertised start time. Hopefully next time... Up next were The Freecoasters out of southern Florida. They included a trombone player, and my first thought when I saw them was ...