{"id":2700,"date":"2018-08-30T12:29:52","date_gmt":"2018-08-30T17:29:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/?p=2700"},"modified":"2019-12-17T20:20:57","modified_gmt":"2019-12-18T01:20:57","slug":"review-photos-cranking-and-skanking-fest-palladium-08-25","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/2018\/08\/30\/review-photos-cranking-and-skanking-fest-palladium-08-25\/","title":{"rendered":"REVIEW + PHOTOS: Cranking and Skanking Fest @ Palladium 08\/25"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Dicky Barrett of the Mighty Mighty Bosstones by Zoe Salvucci<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Danya Trommer<\/em><\/p>\n

Photos by Zoe Salvucci<\/em><\/p>\n

Walking through Worcester, it was easy to tell who was there to attend Crankin\u2019 and Skankin\u2019 Fest on August 25. Checkerboard, Hawaiian shirts, and Jamaican flags painted the crowd that swarmed into the parking lot of the Worcester Palladium where the festival was held. Food trucks from the area dotted the parking lot, as well as a beer garden that served locally brewed drinks. Fans from all over the Northeast gathered to see the fest curated by Boston\u2019s own Mighty Mighty Bosstones. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Boston\u2019s Big D and the Kids Table had an incredibly energetic set, with lead singer David McWane commanding the audience\u2019s attention with his exuberant performance. \u00a0A circle pit swirled around in the center of the crowd, full of fans belting the lyrics to hits such as \u201cShining Down\u201d and \u201cL.A.X.\u201d At one point, trombone player Logan La Barbera stood up against the barricade and blasted notes into the crowd. Big D put on one of the best sets of the night, hyping up the crowd for the several other acts that were to follow. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Playing at the same time as Big D on the inside stage was Connecticut\u2019s The Hempsteadys. \u00a0The band\u2019s set included songs off their new album, \u201cSeance! Seance!\u201d At the festival, nine members of the impressive eleven piece band performed. The band seemed to have genuine fun on stage, which made their set even more enjoyable. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Later on in the night, reggae legends Toots and the Maytals performed on the outside stage. \u00a0Starting in 1962, the band has been around for more than 50 years. The lead singer, Frederick \u201cToots\u201d Hibbert, showed no sign of his 75 years of age as he danced around the stage. Balloons full of confetti bounced around as the entire crowd danced to the many incredible songs performed, including \u201cMonkey Man,\u201d the first international hit the group ever had. Toots and the Maytals are a huge reason why reggae gained mainstream popularity, and are credited with coining the genre\u2019s name. Without them and similar bands, the future waves of ska that came from outside the islands would have never happened. Essentially, all of the bands that played that night owe their existence to them. I felt incredibly lucky to have gotten to see such an important group play. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Closing out the night were the festival organizers, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones. Clad in pink suits, the Bosstones took to the stage to perform a career-spanning set. Despite it being 8:30 p.m., lead singer Dicky Barrett donned his almost ever-present sunglasses. As always, backup vocalist\/dancer Ben Carr, also known as the \u201cbosstone,\u201d was a delight to watch as he skanked around stage as the rest of the band put their all into their performance. The band had a magnetic stage presence that the crowd thoroughly enjoyed and did an excellent job with closing out the festival. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Cranking and Skanking Fest had come at a very pivotal time for ska. \u00a0With ska band the Interrupters gaining mainstream appeal with radio play, it is very possible that fourth wave ska may be coming back into the spotlight. Also, the politically charged roots of the genre are making a comeback, as heard on the Mighty Mighty Bosstones new album <\/span>While We\u2019re At It<\/span><\/i>. \u00a0This can prove to be beneficial for the genre, as the original ska message of anti-racism and anti-fascism holds relevance in today\u2019s political climate. By showcasing the future of the genre\u2013though I would have liked to see them on the mainstage rather than the sidestage\u2013fests like these can try and facilitate the mainstream revival of ska. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n


\n<\/span><\/p>\n

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Big D and the Kids Table by Zoe Salvucci<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Big D and the Kids Table by Zoe Salvucci<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Big D and the Kids Table by Zoe Salvucci<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Big D and the Kids Table by Zoe Salvucci<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Bouncing Souls by Zoe Salvucci<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Bouncing Souls by Zoe Salvucci<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The Mighty Mighty Bosstones by Zoe Salvucci<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The Mighty Mighty Bosstones by Zoe Salvucci<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The Mighty Mighty Bosstones by Zoe Salvucci<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Planet Smashers by Zoe Salvucci<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Planet Smashers by Zoe Salvucci<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Planet Smashers by Zoe Salvucci<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Toots and the Maytals by Zoe Salvucci<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Toots and the Maytals by Zoe Salvucci<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Toots and the Maytals by Zoe Salvucci<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Danya Trommer Photos by Zoe Salvucci Walking through Worcester, it was easy to tell who was there to attend Crankin\u2019 and Skankin\u2019 Fest on August 25. Checkerboard, Hawaiian shirts, and Jamaican flags painted the crowd that swarmed into the parking lot of the Worcester Palladium where the festival was held. Food trucks from the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13221,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1525,1530],"tags":[505,26,472,258,295,504,31,420,503,259,25],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2700"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13221"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2700"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2700\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2717,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2700\/revisions\/2717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}