LET’S GET READY TO RUMBLE!  The 1st Annual Ska-POW! Battle of the Bands is going down TOMORROW NIGHT at the Triple Rock Social Club in Minneapolis, MN, hosted by emcee Ben Crew from local hardcore band In Defence.  The throwdown is going down at 8 pm and the cover at the door is $5.  The show is 18+ and Tallgrass Brewing will be there with beer specials (with ID).  The winner of the Battle will win the coveted title belt (see pic) and bragging rights for the year.

WHO ARE THE CONTENDERS?

Rocksteady Breakfast
Liquor Beats Winter
Blue Waffle
Stop Drop

The bands will be playing a 3-song set (Original, Instrumental, Cover) and a 4-song set of Band Favorites.  In the halftime between the sets, there will be a crowd-participatory Skank Dance Off judged by Koo Koo Kanga Roo and DJ’ed by Aaron Porter.

Show off your dance skills, win prizes, drink on the cheap, and enjoy some high-caliber local ska!

Since I’m not that great of a writer and I’m a bit lazy, I’m letting Jordan Porter write this show announcement.  Let’s face it, he’s better than I am:

This, my friends, is the stuff of legends. Pure solid gold. Absolute, 5-Airhorns-a-blazin’ lunacy. On February 11, New York City Ska seminal skankers The Toasters return for a 31st year of enlisting 15 year old kids into the 2-Tone Army (a-hey! a-hey!). Helping these elder statesmen out in the department of heavy hitting monster reggae will be two scorching local groups ready to turn your hips into jelly.

The Dropsteppers, fresh off their 2011 Megalith Records debut “Get Up in It!”, will supply you with their trademark soulful lamentations, with that added Perez Bros kick to take it up two notches.

The Prizefighters, having just released their vinyl-only special edition of “Follow My Sound” on Jump Up! Records, will make you about half an inch shorter from all the cartilage-grinding your knees will joyfully succumb to.

Saturday, February 11th
Triple Rock Social Club
9:00 PM, 18+
$10 adv./$12 door

Check out MNSKA for all the latest details, happenings, goings-ons, reviews, discussions, and best-dressed lists.

You can get your advance tickets HERE

I’m pleased and excited to announce the next big SKA event: the 1st Annual Ska-POW! Battle of the Bands on February 2nd (Groundhog Day!) 2012 at the Triple Rock Social Club in Minneapolis, brought to you by Tallgrass Brewing and supported in part by mnska.com!  There are 4 bands competing for the coveted Ska-POW! title belt: Rocksteady Breakfast, Liquor Beats Winter, Blue Waffle, and Stop Drop.  Our special guest emcee for the night will be Ben Crew from local Hardcore band In Defence and he’ll be overseeing this night of ska-infused mayhem.

For the 1st half of competition, each band will perform an original song, an instrumental, and a cover song.  The 2nd half, the bands will play a 4-song set of “band favorites.”  They will need to convince the panel of judges that they have what it takes to be #1.

During halftime, concert-goers can enter the Skank Dance Off and show off their sweet dance moves to the Jamaican ska tunes spun by DJ Aaron Porter (The Prizefighters).  The Skank Dance Off will be judged by locals Koo Koo Kanga Roo.  If dancing is not your thing, you can spin the wheel (for a small donation) to win some pretty cool prizes!  There will be specials on Tallgrass beer all night long!

Big thanks to Jeff Bockenhauer and the boys in Rocksteady Breakfast for putting on this event!

You can RSVP this event on Facebook HERE

1st Annual Ska-POW! Battle of the Bands
featuring
Rocksteady Breakfast
Liquor Beats Winter
Blue Waffle
Stop Drop

Triple Rock Social Club
629 Cedar Ave, Minneapolis, MN
February 2, 2012
Doors 8pm | 18+ | $5

The month of  October is a gigantic one for MNSKA.  Just look at the show calendar below…it’s crazy!  Let me highlight some of the shows that you, the MNSKA faithful, should be at.  This Sunday, the infamous crusty ska-punk heroes Leftover Crack will be playing at the Triple Rock Social Club with MNSKA band Rocksteady Breakfast.  A couple days later at the First Ave Mainroom is legendary Ziggy Marley.  Arizona surf/ska/punk band Authority Zero is bringing it to the 7th Street Entry on Sunday October 16th.  Looking ahead to that weekend, check out Thursday October 20th where the mighty Aggrolites are bringing their dirty reggae to the 7th Street Entry!  The next night is an all-out MNSKA Double Release Party at the Nomad World Pub.  On Friday, October 21st you can dance to the boss tunes from MNSKA’s The Dropsteppers, who are releasing Get Up In It! on Megalith Records, and The Prizefighters, who are releasing their special-edition vinyl of Follow My Sound on Jump Up Records.  The show opens up with the epic return of long-running two-tone massive known as Umbrella Bed!  But the month is not over yet, because the superhuman ska force known as 3 Minute Hero is playing a release show at the Fine Line Music Cafe on Friday, October 28th.  The band is only releasing a limited number of their new music collection, so you should make it your bee’s wax to be at that one!

Whew!  Tons of ska shows to attend.  Which shows will we see you at?  Be sure to continue to check our SHOWS page for updates.

MNSKA rude boys Rocksteady Breakfast released their latest self-titled full-length album earlier this month and have it currently available to stream on their Bandcamp site.  The band plans to have it available for download in the near future.

Be sure to catch these guys at the Triple Rock Social Club on Sunday, October 9th when they open for Leftover Crack!

You can stream their album Rocksteady Breakfast HERE

It’s a Midwest ska fest!  Chicago’s veteran reggae-soul band Deal’s Gone Bad is returning to Minneapolis on Saturday, May 14th.  The 18+ show will take place at the Triple Rock Social Club and will feature Wisconsin pop-ska group Something To Do and MNSKA traditional-ska rockers The Prizefighters.  Doors open at 9 pm.

You can get discounted tickets for the show HERE.  Better act fast, this show will likely sell out!

For more information, check out the Facebook event HERE

Time flies when you are playing ska!  It’s been a busy couple months for our fearless host, so Courtney takes some time get us all up to speed on his whereabouts before presenting his interview.  The esteemed guest is a veteran to this show and to the American Ska scene, the one and only Bucket from the NYC band The Toasters.  The band is finishing the first leg of their 30th Anniversary tour, so Buck fills us in on what he’s been up to these past 3 decades.  He chats with Courtney over a pint of Surly some of the history of producing ska music, gives some tips to the up-and-coming bands, and describes the honor of having a beer named after his beloved band.  Indeed, no better pairing in the world than ska music and beer!

If you missed the show at the Triple Rock Social Club or any of the tour dates, be sure to check out some videos from that show at the MNSKA YouTube Channel.

The fine folks at Copycats Media have a deal for you, the loyal listener.  Mention the Flyover Ska Show and they’ll add 100 FREE 11X17 full color posters to your order.

The Flyover Ska Show is now available on Stitcher, the free podcast radio app for all your better smartphones. Like ska and beer, so too podcasts and smart phones.

This show is brought to you in part by MNSKA.com, Minnesota’s Ska Community and the Fancy Pants Gangsters podcast network.  Become a fan of the show on Facebook, follow Courtney on Twitter, or email him at FOSS@fancypantsgangsters.com.

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You can download this episode HERE or subscribe to the show on iTunes.

NYC legendary ska band The Toasters are celebrating their 30 years as a band this year!  During their 30th Anniversary Tour, they stopped in Minneapolis, MN at the Triple Rock Social Club and played an amazing set.  From their set, here’s a video of the band performing their anthem “2 Tone Army.”

You can check out the video on YouTube HERE

MNSKA up-and-comers The Dropsteppers opened for The Toasters when they swung by the Triple Rock Social Club for their 30th Anniversary Tour.  To give you a flavor of their set, here’s a video of them performing their song “Hold It In.”

You can check out the video on YouTube HERE

MNSKA veterans Umbrella Bed opened for the legendary NYC ska band The Toasters when their 30th Anniversary Tour came to the Triple Rock Social Club on February 16th.  The band heroically played a killer set after finding out hours before that Dave, their lead singer, was in a car accident and was in the hospital.  The video is a medley of their songs “Workin’ For The CIA,” “Pick It Up,” and “Kamchatka.”  We at MNSKA wish Dave a speedy recovery!

You can check out the video on YouTube HERE