Reel Big Fish & Five Iron Frenzy

Let’s face it: Reel Big Fish is a band you can count on. They tour every year. They’ve been around for decades (in some iteration or another) and still play college shows (see: BU Senior BBQ last year. Most exciting school function I ever stumbled upon, to be honest). However, Five Iron Frenzy hasn’t made it to the east coast in 10 years. So November 7 was a pretty special occasion in my book.

After disbanding in 2003, FIF started hinting at a comeback in 2011. But this year was their first big tour since lo those 10 years ago. If you were at Royale on November 7 to see Reel Big Fish, that’s cool (because so was I), but you really can’t say you enjoyed the show unless you saw and heard FIF.

They are all the good parts of Streetlight Manifesto, Less Than Jake, and Save Ferris combined. Their brass section still brings the heat, and everyone on stage looks so happy to be back. Their energy definitely influenced the audience, but I was surprised to see so many people there who were already big fans. Everyone was pretty young, so I’m not sure they remembered the glory days of FIF, but they certainly had enough time to hit the books and become fans of their material in the 10 years since their last release.

Even their new tunes were well-received, though. “It Was a Dark and Stormy Night” got part of the crowd skanking in a circle and sets the expectations for their new album, Engine of a Million Pilots pretty high. Their new album, funded by kickstarter supporters within an hour of it being posted, will be released on November 26.

If you’ve been to see Reel Big Fish once, you’ve seen it all. But that shouldn’t stop you from seeing them again and again. And unlike FIF, I’m sure RBF has come out with a new album in the past decade (OK, I know for a fact that they have, but Fame, Fortune, and Fornication and Candy Coated Fury just don’t really carry that much weight in my mind. You can enjoy a show without knowing any of the songs on those albums. Or any album really.). However it doesn’t matter when you’re in the pit. You can expect the favorite songs, the favorite covers, and the favorite banter (even the dialogue between songs hasn’t changed much in the last decade). But on a chilly November night, an upbeat (ba-dum tiss) ska show is really something everyone needs.

Check them out and start lovin’ life again:
fiveironfrenzy.com
reel-big-fish.com

-Deanna Archetto