By Danya Trommer<\/i><\/p>\n
What are The Aquabats?\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Are they a ska band? A children\u2019s band? A group of superheroes that happen to make music?\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The answer? They\u2019re all that and more.\u00a0 While The Aquabats \u2014 comprised of the MC Bat Commander, Eaglebones Falconhawk, Jimmy The Robot, Crash McLarson, and Ricky Fitness \u2014 may have been defying definition since the 90s, one thing is clear: they put on an incredible show.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Aquabats, fresh from funding their kickstarter goal by 640%, brought their Holy Guacamole tour to Boston on September 18th. Fans flocked to the Paradise Rock Club to see the show at 6 PM, a conveniently early start to make sure kids got home in time for bed. In the club, twenty-somethings in Aquabats costumes chattered excitedly while chugging beer, toddlers grasped the hands of denim-clad punk dads, babies with giant sound-proof headphones merely looked confused.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The openers for the Bats, MC Lars and Koo Koo Kangaroo, provided the same brand of family-friendly, yet genuinely enjoyable, entertainment.\u00a0 The fanbase of MC Lars tends to overlap with those of the Aquabats due to his 2009 song, \u201cThis Gigantic Robot Kills\u201d, an ode to ska with a chorus sung by the MC Bat Commander.\u00a0 Lars surprisingly did not save this song for last, instead sticking it in the middle of his set, complete with a cameo from the Bat Commander. While this could have caused a loss of momentum, Lars still maintained the audience\u2019s attention with his humor, as well as his impressive freestyling skills.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Koo Koo Kangaroo, the second opener, were essentially joy personified. Their incredibly silly songs \u2014 accompanied by their own specific dance moves \u2014 about dinosaurs, cats, and pooping had a surprising amount of adult fans in the audience.\u00a0 Their singalong style songs were rife with audience participation opportunities, in which the crowd happily took part. By the time their set was over, the audience buzzed with energy as they awaited the headliner.<\/span><\/p>\n The Aquabats made no small entrance. The audience cheered as clips from The Aquabats! Super Show!<\/em> were projected onto the back of the stage, indicating to the crowd that the main event was about to begin.\u00a0 As all five members of the band jogged onto stage, sporting their signature light blue superhero costumes, the audience roared and passionately threw up The Aquabats’ hand sign.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n With no introduction, the band immediately launched into \u201cThe Shark Fighter!\u201d as inflatable sharks descended from the ceiling. Adults attempted not to mosh into children as the crowd churned.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In between songs, the Bats loosely bantered with one another, obviously enjoying their time on stage. Soon, a narrative began to unfold when a \u201cvillain\u201d (a roadie in a ghoul costume) burst onto the stage shouting \u201cPinstripes and pennants!\u201d and declaring his love for the Yankees while The Aquabats vowed to protect the children from him. Later in the night, this narrative culminated in a great fight between the ghoul, accompanied by other villains, and the bats while they played a song that sounded familiar to the track \u201cFight Song!\u201d off <\/span>The Fury of the Aquabats<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0 This fight, of course, ended with the Aquabats winning and performing, appropriately, \u201cLook at Me (I\u2019m a Winner)!\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s hard to sum up an Aquabats show. While the older fans of the audience may not have been able to sing along to all of the setlist that was mostly comprised of newer songs, they still danced as hard as they could. It was nearly impossible not to be smiling throughout the entire set, filled with props, gags, and audience participation. The Aquabats put on a show like no other, and have to be seen to be believed.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n