Buck-O-Nine

The ticket was $5 more than the first time I saw Buck-O-Nine. The venue was slightly bigger. At just over a hundred people in attendance, I’d say the crowd was about half the size. I consumed 100% more alcohol than I did that night at Soma, but I’m guessing it was a wash among the members of the band. Everyone in the room was 21 years older than they were when the Specials took the stage in San Diego. The security team actually helped a drunk guy get his bearings instead of kicking his ass (like they would at Soma) and Jon Pebsworth didn’t mention Jon Bon Jovi even once this time around. There were also a few new(er) songs that I didn’t recognize. But other than that, a Buck-O-Nine show in 2015 was exactly the same as a Buck-O-Nine show in ’96. There were silly songs, a handful of covers, lots of horns, some awkward dancing, childish jokes, a small pit, a few mohawks and a lot of fun.

The set kicked off at 10:30pm with “Round Kid”. Their signature sound sparked a small pit that kept going into “Jennifer’s Cold”. Kids who weren’t even born when the album was released were slamming around with dudes who could have been their fathers. It was great to see that those old songs didn’t have an age-limit or expiration date. “We’re a party band, so let’s get rowdy!” Pebsworth was center stage, backed up by a 3-piece horn section on one side, and Andy Platfoot and Jonas Keliner holding down guitar and bass duties on the other. Steve Bauer kept time in the back, rounding out the 7-piece band. Pushing the limits of the small stage, Pebsworth spend a lot of his time hovering over those in the front row. The few Sustain tracks succeeded in silencing my singing along, but they didn’t stray far enough from the Buck-O-Nine formula to cause any concern. It was the Songs in the Key of Bree tracks that really got my blood flowing though.

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