Big D and the Kids Table, 2/27 Starland Ballroom

Big D and the Kid’s Table are an energetic group of musicians who really know how to put on a good show and everyone knows that good music and a good presence go hand in hand to create a good show. On Saturday, Big D and the Kid’s Table did just that- put on a good Ska show at Starland Ballroom in Sayerville, NJ. Brian Klemm from Suburban Legends has been sitting in on guitar for the tour and did a great job at the kid’s table, along with the backing female voices, the Doped Up Dollies.

The band opened with ‘Little Bitch’ off their album How It Goes. The song was super energetic and got the crowd going for the rest of the set. The night’s set list was based around How It Goes, Strictly Rude, and Fluent In Stroll. The next tune off How It Goes that showed up was ‘Bender,’ introduced by a definition of a bender and an invitation for the crowd to play along with the lyrics every time Big D said ‘drunk’ in the chorus. How It Goes wouldn’t show up again until the encore.
Strictly Rude got a lot of play at the show, including ‘Steady Riot,’ ‘Noise Complaint,’ ‘Shining On,’ ‘Hell On Earth’ ‘Raw Revolution’ and ‘Strictly Rude.’ ‘Noise Complaint’ was out of control with the crowd singing along and going crazy. But then again, playing a song about a noise complaint is destined to be nothing other than rowdy fun, especially when the crowd can yell along to the lyrics: “NOISE COMPLAINT!” ‘Raw Revolution’ rocked the crowd even more than noise complaint, getting everyone to put on their skanking shoes and dig into the pit. ‘Strictly Rude’ was another notable moment when Big D himself busted out the melodica to blow along with this serious reggae infused number
Fluent in Stroll, Bid D and the Kids Table’s most recent album release featured the Doped Up Dollies who were also along for the show. ‘Not Fucking Around,’ ‘Kiss A Week,’ ‘Known To Be Blue,’ and ‘I,I,I’ are all songs off the album that were played. ‘Known To Be Blue’ is a slow number and featured one of the Doped Up Dollies on vocals while Big D took a break. The rest of the songs also featured backing vocals by the Doped Up Dollies. The Dollies also served as backup singers and dancers for most of the rest of the show. ‘Kiss A Week’ also featured Big D taking on an instrument other than his voice, a guitar to fill in the song.
The show ended, but anyone who’s ever been to a show before knows that isn’t the end. After the ever-present “one more song” chant the band came back out to the delight of the crowd with some more tunes off How It Goes. They started off playing ‘My Girlfriend’s On Drugs’ with The Dollies singing along and acting out all sorts of illicit drug use on stage, quite a site to behold. After that the band played ‘LAX,’ a true punk ballad and an awesome way to end the show.
After all the glory of Big D and the Kids Table is said and done, the local openers all deserve honorable mention. The Explosive Sheep are a young, local Ska band doing their thing well. The Waffle Stompers tore it up with their originals and a sweet version of "Proud Mary." The Avon Junkies were also an interesting Ska group, doing something a little different.