Slackfest 2024: The Slackers, The Operators, Rude Girl Revue, Meskales, Todd Hembrook; and Danny Rebel & The KGB. Chicago (11.15.2024 and 11.16.2024))
The Slackers returned to Chicago once again to host another Slackfest at Reggie’s. The NYC legends headlined both nights and brought along some friends for the fun. Night 1, the band was supported by Todd Hembrook from Deal’s Gone Bad and The Hemispheres, Meskales, and Danny Rebel & The KGB. Night 2 support came from the Operators, Rude Girl Revue, and a solo set by Danny Rebel.
Night 1: Friday
The Slackers have been playing great ska, reggae, and soul for more than three decades. The NYC legends have hosted Slackfest in Chicago for 7 years. It is arguably the most eagerly anticipated event for Chicago area ska fans and many others who travel to the Windy City to attend this annual weekend.
Frontman Vic Ruggiero, on organ and guitar, shared vocals with trombone player Glen Pine. Saxophonist Dave Hillyard, Bass player Marcus Geard, Jay Nugent, on guitar, and drummer Ara Babajian completed the powerhouse sextet.
The Slackers started the revelry with “Don’t Forget The Streets.” The extensive set also included “I Still Love You,” “Old Dog,” “Pick and Choose,” “Married Girl,” and “Wasted Days.”
Ruggiero and Hillyard performed a delightful cover of the Louis Prima classic “Just A Gigolo.”
The Slackers never disappoint the long-time fans and bring new ones into the fold with each performance.
Meskales, from the capital city of state next door jumped into its high-energy set immediately. The Madison, WI crew blasted through a set that included “Enfermo Ska,” “Guerra Fría,” “1312,” “El Muro,” “Skawboy,” and “Mis Amigos.”
A few days after the show, singer Salvador Luna described to me what it meant to participate in the weekend,
“Playing at Slackfest was so much fun! We can’t wait to do it again. It was an honor to share the stage with The Slackers”
Meskales serves up some great Spanish language ska. Whilst it’s great to know the language, it’s not a necessity. No matter what language you speak, this band will have you skanking and grooving from the first note played. But yeah, being bilingual is always the way to go if possible.
Montreal, Canada’s Danny Rebel & The KGB made its Chicago debut at Slackfest 2024. The band engaged the crowd from the jump and found itself receiving a warm welcome on this cool Friday evening.
The breezy set included “Spiral Eyes,” “You Must Learn,” “Mad Man,” “Chew Toy,” and “Fire.”
Slackfest meant double duty for frontman Danny Rebel. He also played a nifty solo set on Saturday.
After the weekend, Rebel recalled the experience for me,
“The show was a lot of fun. It’s always good to play a city we haven’t played before. Always honoured to directly support our heroes, The Slackers. We opened for them a few times since 2008. Also, really appreciate Reggie’s crew for their accommodation and making sure our cups were always full.“
Todd Hembrook of Deal’s Gone Bad (DGB) and The Hemispheres returned to his one-time city with two former bandmates: Keyboardist Anthony Abbinanti of the former and T.J. Annerino of the latter on bass. Hembrook’s deep, soulful voice was warmly welcomed by many of his friends and fans in attendance. Among those were Tony Duggins of The Tossers and Dave Simon of The Crombies and Anger, as well as Hembrook’s bandmate in DGB.
Hembrook, Abbinanti, and Annerino played a tight but powerful set with “California & 26th,” “Things Are Gonna Get Better,” “Enjoy The Ride,” “The Liar & The Thief,” “AZ Plates,” “Put On Your Coat,” and “Movin’ On.” That last tune was from Hembrook’s DGB days.
Hembrook now lives in Northern Kentucky, “…literally right across the river from Cincinnati,” as he told me. However, the Chicago music community will forever claim Todd Hembrook as one of its own.
Night 2: Saturday
Prior to its second regular set of the weekend, The Slackers performed in a more intimate setting. On the floor level of the venue, mostly known for hosting comedy nights, the band mixed storytelling and song for a nice precursor to the final set of the weekend.
Closing out the event, The Slackers truly delivered with a set including “Keep Him Away,” “Watch This,” “Don’t Let The Sunlight Fool Ya,” “Cooking For Tommy,” and “Sarah.” Ruggiero also performed an acoustic version of “The Happy Song.”
For those on stage and those in attendance, this was a pretty happy weekend. Well, at least while the music flowed.
Rude Girl Revue is a supergroup composed of members from such bands as Hub City Stompers, The Scotch Bonnets, Stop The Presses, The Skluttz, and others.
My first impression of the band was to imagine a ska musical version of “A League Of Their Own,” with the matching baseball jerseys. But Rude Girl Revue is in a league of their own for sure on stage and as nearly a dozen members tore through a rollicking set including “Rude Girl Shake,” “Lioness,” “Get a Grip,” “Behind Every Santa, there’s a Mrs. Clause,” and “Slay Belles.”
Belles were slayed but so too was the stage. Give me more of this Rude-ness! If you are in the Baltimore, MD area you can check out Rude Girl Revue at Metro Baltimore on December 13, 2024.
The Operators, from eastbound and down from Chicago, are vets to the Reggie’s Rock Club stage. Hailing from Indianapolis, IN, The Operators hit the State Street venue with a very rambunctious set including “Better Off Alone,” “Don’t Do Me Dirty,” “Waste My Life,” “Ain’t It Obvious,” and “Catfished.”
Both Reggies and The Slackers hold a special place in the heart of The Operators frontman Brandon Sanders. He has played the venue four times thus far: three times as The Operators and once as Brandon Sanders and Friends.
As for The Slackers, Sanders estimates that he’s shared a bill with the group “about 15 times thus far.”
Vic Ruggiero is a mentor of sorts to Sanders and was the one who prompted the Indy-based musician to start The Operators in 2018. Sanders described to me the origin of his friendship with Ruggiero,
“We met in 2015. We immediately got along so it was quick getting him down to Indy. I started booking The Slackers in Indianapolis in 2015, and he would crash at my place. Vic is definitely a friend first, then mentor. He has sound advice.”
The Operators return to Chicago on December 28 for Mustard Plug’s Home For The Skalidays 2024. The event takes place at the Bottom Lounge and sounds like a great way to close out this crazy year.
On Thanksgiving eve, I asked Vic Ruggiero what Chicago means to him and The Slackers. Reflecting on it, he had this to share:
“So, Chicago has always been a great scene for us, they were the first of a few cities that really welcomed us early on in the 90s. I’ll never forget them singing our lyrics with us from the first record at Fireside Bowl…and that place and others often had DJ nights before or after the gigs, so I’d meet folks…after parties… the local bands and guys like Chuck Wren did a lot to keep a thriving local scene… And cuz Chicago is a touring hub, we’d often be on a bill with bands from all over that I was curious to see anyway… so it was a show for me, too..with our own Slackfest gigs we try to invite em!
Seems the Rust Belt was always our bread and butter for years… a close drive from NYC and tons of gigs between Ohio, Indiana, Michigan… PA, Western NY, Toronto included, and Chicago is in the middle of all that… there’s folks from Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, Missouri, and Wisconsin too… places we don’t go often enough cuz we make big circles these days…
It used to take us a year to get back everywhere, now it’s 2 at least, and some we’re lucky to get to every 3-5… or 10 like Omaha!!
so having these congregation spots like Chicago or Austin makes it so we can stay in touch with folks.
I love touring so I go out solo or with a small group to lots of places, but the Slackers is 6 guys, 8 people total, that gotta drive, fly, sleep… staying somewhere for a weekend is like the old jazz bands that’d play weeklong stints… and we get to play more variety of songs cuz we don’t wanna repeat stuff.
We do that when we play shows near each other, too, for the folks that come to more than one.
Plus, Chicago lets us do that nerdy storytelling behind the songs afternoon, which is demented for the band cuz we never talk about that stuff, even with each other…“
Slackfest gets better each year. We at Dying Scene are already waiting eagerly for the 2025 date announcement. We’ll see you there! Thanks, and Cheers!