Marc Von Ahnen
- Jul 17, 2019
- 4 min read

Aquabats! Reel Big Fish. Glorious Sons. And the Struts!

Friday night I saw the Aquabats and Reel Big Fish in Kansas City. Saturday morning I woke up with a sore throat and was tired all day. Monday night I went to Glorious Sons and the Struts in Des Moines, the next day my shoulder hurt and I was one hour late to work. Maybe this concert life style is catching up to me.

I am not sure I care though. Both of these shows were amazing.

This is the second time I have got to see Glorious Sons and the third time I have seen Struts (read that blog at https://tinyurl.com/y2wy8d3u ) and I swear I see Reel Big Fish more often than I see family members that I live in town with, I am mostly going to focus on the Aqua Bats show.

Highlights of those shows: Reel Big Fish were as good as ever but this time they played two songs from the album Cheer Up! It maybe my favorite album by the band and it was really nice that they pulled a couple songs (Where have you been and Good Thing) to play. For a band I have seen probably a dozen times its impressive they keep mixing things up for the fans.

Glorious Sons were also impressive. Sadly the show started earlier than planned, I guess an opening act had to cancel, and I missed half of their set. That disappointed me but you can't blame them for that. On our way into the field I heard them playing a song and looked at Andy and said "Is that Fat Boy Slim?" And then they started a cover of Praise You! I love random covers, again great show by a great up and coming band. Check them out while there tickets are still cheap, I see big things in store for these guys.

The Struts, as always, killed it. This band is spectacular! I can't get over how much fun they are and they seem to be able to pull in fans from every where. It doesn't matter where your music interests falls everyone, ends up loving the Struts. Luke Spiller, the lead singer who looks like a cross of Freddie Mercury and Tim Curry told the crowd that they have been touring none stop for 4 years. It would seem that sort of drive and dedication is what has helped them become so polished and able to garner a huge following. I heard that this show sold out. So did the last one. Again another bad that has big things in store.

So finally I come to the Aquabats! I remember hanging out with my friend Robby and he introduced me to a lot of ska and punk bands. He would tell me to check out Less Than Jake or No Use For a Name. Told me to grab random compilations. And so on and so forth. One day he said "You should check out the Aquabats. They dress up like super heroes."

I think the first album of theirs I got was the Aquabats Myth, Legends, and other Amazing Adventures Vol 2.

I remember listening to Pizza Day and Pool Party continuously.

This was the first opportunity I have had to see the Aquabats and I can honestly say I have never seen anything like them. I have to think that the staff at the Uptown Theater had to be confused because you had a large group old bearded dudes along with entire families with little children dressed as super heroes. "Who is this show for?" they staff had to be wondering.

They start their set with a song called Shark Fighter! And if you read this blog you know my love of sharks. So I knew I was in for a good night. A stage hand came out and tossed two inflatable sharks into the crowd and we all tossed them around. Behind them they played clips of old TV shows and movies. Some extremely obscure things, Thing with Two Heads in there, and some extremely popular things Scooby Doo, Bill & Teds Excellent Adventure. Each song go its own little mini movie. They played through a few other songs until they came to pizza day! This is where things got really interesting.

So during Pizza Day they brought out two large inflatable pieces of pizza. The crowd tossed them around. But then MC Bat Commander pulled two really young children out of the crowd. He had a quick back and forth with them. It was cute and then asked for the pieces of pizza to be moved up to the front. He then told the children he was going to have them surf on the pizza to the back of the crowd and then back to the front. The little boy went first and he grabbed this kid and chucked him out into the crowd. He landed safely on the pizza and then went to the back and then the front safely. The little girl's reaction was pretty much "FUCK THAT!" So she passed and another little boy was picked. Same thing, this dude went flying into the air landed on the pizza and then made his rounds. The entire time I was thinking "those two kids got a concert experience that no one else could ever have." I'm not going to see Motley Crue and have Vince Neil pick me up and toss me into the crowd.

Their music is so infectious and you are almost compelled to sing, jump, and dance with them. It was maybe the most high energy show I have ever been a part of. I don't think I stopped moving for their entire set. I felt bad for Reel Big Fish because they were a tough act to follow. I was super jazzed for Reel Big Fish when they hit the stage but soon thought "I think I am dying!"

My body still hurts from this weeks shows, maybe I am getting to old and fat for this, but I would see all four of these bands again. In a heart beat!