Four ska bands to play free South Porch show Saturday

The run-down for various musical shows at Oberlin is usually fairly formulated: classical concerts and guest recitals take over Finney, jazz and folk acts are shuffled into the Cat, indie and pop bands play the 'Sco for a couple bucks, and every other little campus band and up-and-coming acts fend for themselves in Harkness or South, awkwardly playing for $2 and $3 at a time, which doesn't make the dorm inhabitants happy. This weekend, however, South will open its porch up for a free set of afternoon ska.

College first-years James Kenler and Annick Rosenfield came up with the idea for a free all-ska show back in December, but their original plans of flushing out the concert for a Feb. 28 date never materialized. Luckily, with springtime in full swing, sunny weather should drag crunchy Oberlinians out of their study carrels and down to South Hall to get down and skank.

A previously established campus punk band (who shall remain nameless) aims to surprise this Saturday when they take on South as J. J. Walker and the Murder Hockeys and pick up a few conservatory brass players for an all-ska set. There is rumor of another campus band opening the show before J. J. Walker, but confirmation was not available at press time.

The other three confirmed bands, however, hail from all over. B.C.R.C. started in Cleveland and have been building a solid reputation opening for larger local ska bands in the area over the past few months. Baltimore, Maryland's Mobtown Beat bring their D.C.-styled ska to the set. The band finds its home on Baltimore's Reptilian records, alongside other East Coast skankers. And finally, from Kalamazoo, Mich, The Mad Butchers will make an appearance as headliners at Saturday's show.

One might wonder exactly how two first-years can afford to bring ska bands from the greater eastern United States to our little Oberlin for one afternoon of free music. Luckily, Kenler and Rosenfield have had a lot of help. Sparing their personal pocket change, the students were able to get funding through the outlets of dorms and the Student Finance Committee (SFC). Saturday's show is sponsored by South, Barrows, Dascomb, WOBC and the SFC. "They're helping out with money for transportation and stuff like that," explained Kenler.

The students hope to establish a more formal committee for planning and booking ska shows in the future. Though their charter is currently pending, the students hope to name their organization Oberlin College Skafest. "We want to try to bring bands like Royal Crown Revue and the Cherry Poppin' Daddys," Kenler said.

For now, Saturday's smaller-scaled ensemble will have to do. However, Kenler is optimistic. And with no cover and (hopefully) beautiful weather for an afternoon of skank-happy tunes, there's no reason why the show shouldn't be a success.

The Mad Butchers, BCRC, Mobtown Beat and J. J. Walker and the Murder Hockeys play at South Porch Saturday, April 25 beginning at 3:30 p.m. Admission is free.