The Slackers are a seven piece band that hails from New York City. Formed in 1991, the band has been experimenting with mixes of ska, reggae, soul, swing, garage rock, and jazz for over 20 years. By following their muses of the Skatalites, the Beatles, Bob Marley, Lee Perry, Bob Dylan, and Curtis Mayfield, the Slackers have created a niche all their own in contemporary music. The Slackers smash the stereotypes of ska with their self-named ‘Jamaican rock ‘n’ roll’. Seattle based band Georgetown Orbits and our favorite local 45 single spinning ska and rocksteady DJs Pressure Beast Soundsystem open the show! Tickets are $15 general and $10 for HSU students. Tickets are available at the University Ticket Office, at the Works in Eureka, and at humboldt.edu/aspresents.
Back in 1996, the NY Times declared the Slackers to be part of “the sound of New York”, a mantle they haven’t given up since. Ten years later, Alternative Nation stated that their music is “protest music made for dim, sweaty basements, The Slackers would sound at home supporting Rancid as well as some grizzled New Orleans electric blues trio.” The LA Weekly wrote about, “their unfettered energy, unerring skankability, and playful anger.”
The Slackers can out-jam any hippie band and out-write most singer songwriters. From their 1996 release, Better Late Than Never through to 2010 with The Great Rocksteady Swindle, they have established themselves as America’s premiere interpreters and innovators of Jamaican music and a pretty good rock band to boot. The band basically divides its recorded output into 2 categories. First of are their “albums”, which are as sax player, Dave Hillyard, says with just a hint of his typical sarcasm, “these are where we try to take over the universe.”
The Slackers have a good part of their existence on the road. Since 1997, the band has been doing around 110 shows a year. This includes some 25 major North American tours, 15 European tours, 3 Japanese tours and 3 Brazilian tours. They have appeared on the stages of the Warped Tour, Montreal Jazz Festival, and Glastonbury. They have opened for Rancid, Flogging Molly, Jimmy Cliff and Toots & the Maytals amongst others.
The band has come a long way from their little dirty rehearsal studio on E. 3rd Street on the lower east side.
Touring with the Slackers are the The Georgetown Orbits. The Orbits boast a heavy regimen of traditional Ska and upbeat, roots-influenced Reggae. They are turning heads in the Northwest as one of the few bands to pay tribute to the old sounds of Jamaican Ska, a style which has gained notable popularity in Seattle since the band’s conception in late 2004.
Spinning those rocksteady and ska 45’s from yesterday are Humboldt’s own Pressure Beat Soundsystem!
For more information and credit card orders call CenterArts at 826-3928 or at humboldt.edu/aspresents.