Last Monday night, the usually rocking and rambunctious Rock Yo Face Case show took on a more mellowed out mood for the second set of performances this semester, which founder and event coordinator, Patrice Zapiti, referred to as, “the second show lull.” The night’s lineup took a break from the alternative and heavy rock bands that are typically seen on the University Café stage and instead featured three reggae/ska punk bands.
Ska is a mix between reggae, punk and jazz that showcases the make-up of a rock band combined with trumpets, trombones and saxes.
The Lawn Chair Bombers, the first group on for the night, were no strangers to performing at a Rock Yo Face show as that night marked their third. The band was the only one that featured Stony Brook students. The members met on campus went from there.
As they played their first song, the small crowd stayed distant from the stage. Audience members still rhythmically nodded their heads and tapped their feet in time with the beat, but showed no immediate interest in wanting to be any more active.
Throughout the band’s set, more and more students filtered in and by their fourth song, a small group of students began a skanking circle. Skanking is a kind of dance that compliments ska music. It resembles skipping or running (usually in a circle) while lifting one’s arms in time to the rhythm of the music.
“It’s always nice when people are dancing to you,” said Vin Calandrino, the band’s bassist. “It was hard at first, but people filled in and got much better actually.”
The other bands of the night were Across the Isle and Royal City Riot, a band signed by a ska label. By the time Across the Isle was on, most of the crowd was skanking and having a good time. A giant beach ball had even been thrown into the crowd and was eagerly passed from one person to the next.
Sonia Assue, a senior psychology major, was working the show that night as event staff management for the Undergraduate Student Government (USG). She sat by the door marking people’s hands to keep a tally of how many attended that evening’s performance. “I’ve been working since October 2009,” Assue said. “But last semester was the first time the Rock Yo Face people asked for the USG to help run it. Since then, I’ve only missed about one or two shows. I’m not familiar with ska and I think these shows could probably be more diverse, but other than that it’s still pretty cool to have and the fact that these shows are free.”
“These shows are good,” said Shanequa Campbell, a sophomore biology major. “Especially when you’re bored and have nothing to do on a Monday night.” Campbell recalls her favorite part of the night being when the skanking first started. “I’ve never seen that before! It was new for me. I didn’t jump in of course, but I liked watching it.”
