Ska-monkeys from California
The tent of third stage was quickly full when Mad Caddies started their gig. The audience was a suitable celebration mood and the awaited guest from California instantly kickstarted dancing. The group is proficient in combining traditional ska and reggae rhythms to punk-rock, and including shades of old jazz via trombone and slide trombone.
The performance was a crescendo, where more and more people joined the dancing crowd after every song. The climax was reached with “Monkeys”, during which nearly everyone danced in the whole tent. My personal favourite was the next song, a sailor’s song with caribbean rhythms, which bore a striking resemblance to the background music from Monkey Island computer games. Before the concert at Ilosaari, the group had been warming up the Finnish ska fan with two club gigs, during which they had fallen in love with Finland. To prove this, Chuck Robertson praised us by sincerely stating: “You have a fucking beautiful country.” After a few mellower and slower numbers, the audience managed to request the only straightforward punk scon, until the expected “Drinking for 11″ was dedicated to the thirsty crowd of Finns.
The last song began with a cheap-sounding and lo-fi synth theme, which resembled the main act of Saturday, Eläkeläiset. Perhaps the American ska-punks saw glimpses of Finnish madness when the crazy humppa of Eläkeläiset crowned the evening after them. The group’s performance can be compared to such regular festival names as Flogging Molly and Gogol Bordello. The difference being however that Caddies are slightly less punk and ethnic than their colleagues.
Text: Jarkko Veijalainen
Translation: Juha Ekholm