The Toasters + The Pressure Tones + Fandangle + Minimal Damage.

Lev 2 Esquires Bedford. 13th November 2007.

An evening headlined by American band THE TOASTERS gave Esquires the chance to indulge in a two hour Ska extravaganza, but unfortunately a less than quarter full venue suggests that Tuesdays are not popular Bedford gig nights. The party atmosphere that Ska induces needs people, and for whatever reason thay were not in town tonight. Mind you, Ska would have to be your favourite style of music because the evening , I felt, did get a little tedious at times. It's a genre of music that now seems to be consigned to a cult popularity, but for some keen followers it's a top night as they keep the Ska-flag flying.
Celebrating their twenty fifth anniversary, The Toasters were very old-skool, cue "The 2-Tone army" as their opening song, and as with the majority of bands on show this evening, gave the impression that they wanted to leave the stage as quick as possible! At least I thought they did! The ska fans warmed to "Decision at Midnight" and anthemic closing singalong "Don't let the Bastards Grind You Down". Request for an encore naturally falls on deaf ears.

Supporting, and the most enthusiastic band tonight, were FANDANGLE, who actually looked as though they were enjoying themselves. Colourfully attired, its super fast, super loud. Heavily influenced by Less Than Jake, it's their song "Oliver Twist" that creates the most interest, as their blond haired vocalist tries desperately hard to raise a reaction from our laid back audience. He informs us that the band will sing "Please Sir. Can I have some more?". The crowd have to reply in the negative. After three attempts Fandangle decide to leave the interplay. Although they got a knockback on this, they're charged up to close with "I'm High" and "Once Over". A sparkling set from a band that left a good impression here and certainly would be welcomed back.

Making a Ska-ing return to Level 2 were THE PRESSURE-TONES, whose brand of skinhead Ska kick starts this evening. Most of the songs are semi-instrumental and possess a solid underlying beat, especially "Pressurised" and "E-mail". "Strange Girl" is a shout out for the 'geezers', while "Binge Britain" sums up in a ska-wrap the many social ills of the life we live in. "Spanish Juan" comes complete with a maraca, plus the native tongue.

Also playing were MINIMAL DAMAGE. A young local ska band who I'm sure will be regular visitors to the venue over the coming months if tonights performance was anything to go by.