The Slackers (20th Anniversary) @ Cabaret du Mile End

I must admit, I’ve never attended a concert on a high holiday before. However, how could any music lover turn down seeing The Slackers perform live, even if the show coincided with one of the most festive weekends of the year: Halloween?

The show was set to begin at nine, but the venue (Cabaret Du Mile End) looked near empty at quarter to. It was expected and understandable, seeing that most people probably had Halloween parties the very same night. However, little by little zombies, werewolves, slutty nurses, gypsies and even a rooster trickled in and filled up the place. Turns out, celebrating Halloween with one of the greatest Ska bands is equally, if not more fun then heading to some bobbing apples, haunted house party that ends in sugar and or alcohol poisoning.

The show was intimate, in the greatest sense. Unlike other venues, the stage is close enough to the sitting/dancing area so that concert goers are able to converse with the musicians on stage. The Slackers were celebrating their 20th anniversary, seeing these guys perform you’d never believe that twenty years had passed. They are full of ecstatic energy and look as though they are having a party on stage. They jumped around, joked with each other and screamed incessantly at the audience members to keep dancing.

They played old songs, new songs and took requests! I went with a group of friends and my friend Brant is one the greatest Slacker fans I know. He has been to every single one of the bands performances in Montreal. So you can imagine how surprised and happy he was, when one of the members did a shout out for him onstage, wishing him a Happy Birthday and thanking him for being a fan all these years. And some people say Christmas is the most magical time of year….

The Slackers are a ska band and you can’t help but feel happy when you’re listening to their music, with their old school jazz flair and modern upbeat rhythms, they are a band that speaks to everyone, no matter what age you are. They covered a few well known songs as well and converted them into ska-esque tunes. People were dancing like crazy and going wild each time one of the band members spoke in their oh so ‘charmin’ Brooklyn accents. When the lights went off and the show was at a close, people refused to leave. They stomped on the ground, clapped their hands and shouted for an encore

The Slackers are a band that appreciate their fans and know how to show it. Noticing that the crowd was not going to take no for an answer and seemed to prefer hearing more music then heading out to a Halloween party, they did the right thing. The Slackers members grabbed their instruments, jumped back onstage and played for nearly another hour.

After the show, the costumed audience were panting from dancing and their made up, smiling faces were melting with sweat. I overheard fans exclaiming that the 2oth anniversary show was by far the best they’ve seen. I agree. So it looks like The Slackers set a new record, we can only hope that their 40th anniversary is just as great, if not better!

-Abby Schachter hosts The Reaktor on Fridays from 2-4pm