I wax poetic about my first concert frequently. It was at a club in NJ called The Birch Hill Nite Club, and Stabbing Westward headlined. Ash and I Mother Earth opened for them, and I distinctly remember my group of friends yelling at the SW's keyboardist, Walter Flakus, to get his attention.

He waved at us.

It was awesome.

I know that dude now (name drop!) and he's cool as hell.

HOWEVER, my SECOND show was just as important.

January 29th, 1997. Blue Meanies, Reel Big Fish and Weston opened up for Goldfinger at a club in Manhattan called Tramps. Not that I'm neurotic about that stuff or anything.

*Side note: Neither of those clubs exist anymore.*

Reel Big fish was the 2nd band that played that night, and I've been a die hard fan since that show. HOWEVER, Goldfinger was clearly the star of the concert. Their stage presence, the energy. The way the crowd went bonkers. Amazing experience.

Ska never caught on like I thought it would, but Goldfinger was never REALLY ska. They straddled the line a bit, but never went full bore with the horn section like RBF and LTJ did. They were more of the pop-punk/power pop scene, and I miss that kind of stuff immensely. I'm a huge fan of fun, and their self-titled album from 1996 is fun-tastic.

See what I did there?

Anyways, give a listen to "Miles Away" and get ready to sing along and have fun.

Added fun-time! Here's a track where they went full on with the ska stuff. Trumpet and uptempo guitar strokes and everything **FAIR WARNING! THIS SONG IS NSFW!**

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