The MAXIES, Suburban LEGENDS, REEL Big FISH – House of Blues
DALLAS – On a frigid Wednesday evening hundreds of packed out the House of Blues to near capacity. Ska icons Reel Big Fish came barreling into town for their 25th anniversary supported with long-time touring mates, the Suburban Legends and The Maxies.
First on the evening’s playbill were “Greenland’s biggest export and import”: The Maxies. But before they graced the stage, we decided to track down the infamous group and harass them with a few questions…
Known for their antics on stage, their I-Don’t-Give-A-Care attitude of course power-house “pop/punk”, The Maxies began back in 2010. We found the group lounging backstage, relaxed and in a cheerful mood. Introductions were made and pleasantries exchanged, but in true “Maxie” Fashion: “Hi” and “Nice to meet you” were substituted with “Fuck you” and the equally amicable chestnut: “Go fuck your mother”.
The power pop/punk group, originally from Nuuk, Greenland, have often been likened to a bad-guy version of the band, The Aquabats. When asked what the difference was and how they felt about the comparison, the Maxies replied: “Well, for one, they wear blue and we wear red.” They followed with: “Oh, and also, we’ll have sex with your mother; the Aquabats won’t.” Their facial expressions, however, said that the band was uber-flattered.
The Maxies lore runs deep and one of the often debated statements about the band is that one or more of them was in the group The Squirtguns. When asked, the band was quick to unanimously state that it was “All The Way Jay”. We confronted Jay who was quick to respond with “I can neither confirm nor deny [my involvement in The Squirtguns].”
Perhaps the juiciest piece of info to come out our hap-hazard meeting was the fact the group will be releasing their first new album in two years. Nuuk ‘em All, 2016, will drop on April 22nd and will be available through their merch store and other retailers. No word on whether or not there will be a precedential single and/or video. Our best advice is to troll the band on Twitter.
The Maxies carefree and lackadaisical attitude that they so emphatically displayed in their green-room did a complete one-eighty when the band hit the stage. The Maxies came out in full-force with the fervor and energy of a band half their age. A single chorus later, and the group had assuaged any doubts newcomers had, as to why The Maxies are labeled a “Power” pop/punk band. Half-way through their second song, the band’s beloved mascot, Bi-Polar Bear Tom made his first of several appearances…and the crowd went, for all intents and purposes- ape shit crazy. The antics of the band, their trademark attitude and their knack for catchy, angsty and indelibly endearing “oi” music, was as it turned out, a lethal combination for the Dallas crowd. The people loved every second of it.
Next up were Suburban Legends, ska vets out of Orange County, CA who began back in ’98. Their hip and happy feel-good brand of upbeat ska served to maintain the enthusiasm and atmosphere in the house. Suburban Legends gave one hell of performance, and for good reason – this tour would be their last. According to a post by the band on their Facebook page, Suburban Legends stated that “who knows what the future will hold but after this [tour with Reel Big Fish] we will be taking a time out from touring.” The silver lining is that this infers the band may go back to the studio. As it stands, Suburban Legends’ catalogue stands an impressive seven full-lengths deep. Score a copy of their current album, Forever in The FriendZone, 2015, here. Pass the time by scoping out their YouTube page and be sure to follow them on Twitter for the latest dirt.
After Suburban Legends retired from the stage in Dallas, for perhaps the final time, headliners Reel Big Fish were up. They did not disappoint. After a rock-fucking-solid twenty-five minutes, the brass section was introduced and the band went into a few covers.
Their unique re-imagining of such time-honored classics such as “Don’t Stop Believing” and “Brown Eyed Girl” were instant hits with the crowd. The band then proclaimed “we’re gonna play one of our biggest hits from the nineties..” and proceeded to give the audience a good-natured musical cock-tease.
Reel Big Fish started by playing the opening bars of “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, only to stop cold moments before the first verse and stating “Just kidding, of course.”
The group went into short interludes of songs from contemporary acts such as Third Eye Blind, Blink 182 and even the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, before finally playing the song they were teasing the whole time: “Sell Out”. The build-up was almost too much for the fans in Dallas; the entire venue went insane. 
Reel Big Fish departed the stage soon after and about two minutes later, the applause and cheers morphed into an in unison chant of “One more song!”, echoing throughout the performance hall.
The Fish obliged, and went onto to play a half-hour encore. The final song was and extended version of their hit “Beer”, in which they snuck in the first verse of “Self Esteem”. Like, most everyone in attendance that night, the show could be summed up in one single word: “Epic”.
For music, merch, tour dates and more, hit up Reel Big Fish online.
Story and photos by Ryan Javier
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