Into the World of Ska

About a week ago, I noticed a strange bit of the USA plastered on the walls of INSA. It was a poster for the band Streetlight Manifesto (pictured to the left). It was nice to see that there were fans of the band in town, and I reminisced on that time about a year ago when I was going to see them in San Antonio with my friend Chris but decided instead to put my 8 hours in at work and have a relaxing evening with my girlfriend.

So asking if I'm a fan of Streetlight Manifesto is kind of like asking some random person on the street if they're a fan of the mayor. Sure, maybe they voted for him, know his name, heard of a few things he's done. But really ? their feelings are not that strong. I suppose the term «familiar» comes to mind. But sure, Chris really likes them and I've always wanted to experience a new type of show.

And this is when I realize that no only are there posters up promoting the band, they are coming. to my school. in France. for 4€. omgwtf.

As it turns out, Streetlight Manifesto concerts are amazing. So I decide to go. Seriously... 4€. where can you wrong?

So the night of the concert comes, I buy my ticket they write «NTL» on my hand (i don't know why). And I'm with my friend Nathan who is a huge Streetlight Fan. Far more than I in any case. And he is pumped because he just got over a cold just in time for the concert and he's got 2 half-liters of Kronenbourg in his hands. He's just ready to party.

The first opening band goes on. They're called Defy Control. They're punk, they're sound is a little too thin for my taste, but they're decent. I meet them after they go on and they say they're from Portugal. Pretty cool.


So the next opening band goes on. They're called Charly Fiasco and they are French. Wow what a difference it makes. Suddenly there's energy in the crowd. Not too much dancing going on, but a respectable amount of head bobbing.

They sound a lot like Green Day, which is to say, simple, sweet and pretty good. I liked them and enjoyed their show quite a bit.

And then the main attraction comes on. That space you see at the front of the stage gets filled and the party really starts. Now I had no idea about this before. Being a frequenter of more indie concerts that attract the kind of people whose dancing tops off at the headbob and foot tap move, I really had no idea how much fun a crazy (slightly drunk) energetic and happy crowd could be. What. A. Blast.

It was amazing. The music was energetic and lively, the technical difficulties were charming, the moshing was quite enjoyable, the crowdsurfing on a crowd of only ~50 people was ridiculous and awesome. I had no idea.

And for the fans of Tomas Kalnoky out there. Who knew he looked so much like Charlie from Lost?