Ruberlaris
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Ruberlaris Live Review @ The Boardwalk (Sheffield) - 30 Mar 2009
Live Review
Ruberlaris have become quite the formidable act around Sheffield. The band spawned from Chesterfield just down the road, yet their adopted home always seems to bring its fair share of fans along to gigs. Tonight in the Boardwalk sees another impressive turnout for the unofficial kings of Ska, with many of those in attendance completely ignoring the stage until The Rube jump on stage.
Tonight was different to my previous Ruberlaris experiences. The band was on top form as usual; in particular recent additions to the group Andy Copeland [Saxophone] and John Smith [drums] seem to have found their stride in the band. The focus of the group didn't seem to be purely on the bass and guitar, the drums shone through more than ever before.
However crowd at the Boardwalk are notoriously hard to please, largely down to the fact the venue is effectively a beat-down pub, and nothing about the place says music. Still the band persevered in their attempts to rouse the crowd as 'Monday Morning Blues' awoke some of the day dreamers scattered around the place. The football-esque Ruberlaris football chants emerged shortly after this, as the crowd began to warm to the uncrowned kings of ska.
The quintet always have energetic shows, and they managed to produce the response from the crowd they'd been craving all night with their closer 'Holly's Song', a ferociously addictive number which harbours the most simplistic yet genius chorus;
'Who's catching the last train home tonight? If you do I'll see you in the morning, you're oh so boring'
A chorus like this even rivals my previous favourite of Girls Aloud Biology [Don't deny you don't love it!]. Tonight was another impressive showing by the group. It's no exaggeration when I proclaim Ruberlaris to be the future kings of ska, their songs are as easy as relate to as Arctic Monkeys, as catchy as Franz Ferdinand and as laidback as Keane. Not bad for a band that's been going less than two years.
