LGB 11/08/1996

FRESNO BEE
FRESNO, CA
FRIDAY, NOV 8, 1996

Let’s Go Bowling has come a long way since its early days practicing in a Selma bowling alley. After 10 years and a number of personnel changes, the current LGB lineup is gaining attention across America by almost non-stop touring. The latest tour took the Fresno-based ska band to Detroit and Chicago, through t h e Midwest, Big Sky country (Montana and Wyoming), Pacific Northwest and back to California. Highlights of the tour included a packed house of 600 at UC Berkeley and a similar-sized, sold-out crowd for a wild Halloween costume show in San Luis Obispo. But the boys are back home for some rest, to catch up with family and friends and to strut their stuff for the locals – beginning with tonight’s show at Fresno’s newest all-ages venue, Sugarhill Skatepark. No one could blame the Bowlers for being road-weary after constant touring, but the excitement of playing a hometown engagement should give them some added energy.

“It’ll be good to play a gig at home,” said bassist Mark Michel, one of two original members of the decade-old band (Darren Fletcher is the other). “On the road; we often play seven straight nights. Here, we’ve had the whole week off.” “And the local crowds … it’s like home cooking, you know?” “On our last tour we played 18 days without a day off. One time, we played Boston, then drove overnight to Pittsburgh for a gig the next night. That’s a 13-hour drive. It does make it a little tough to get up for the next show; your energy has been used up bouncing around in a van for 13 hours.” “But we’ve become road troupers and have learned to focus our energy on the show.” The band is looking at a less hectic schedule, concentrating on weekend gigs for the remainder of the year – the California circuit, with Fresno as base camp.

In the early days, when a bunch of Fresno, Selma and Kingsburg high-school band players wanted to continue their music careers, no one dreamed Let’s Go Bowling would reach the national level.
“Things have changed quite a bit from the beginning,” Michel said. “Basically, we wanted to be
a party band, play dances and parties. Then we started discovering that everybody in the band
was a good musician and could write his own music.”

Let’s Go Bowling made its first tour in 1989, backing the British ska favorites Potato 5. LGB’s
first album, “Music to Bowl By”, was released in 1991. Nearly six years later, its new album, “Mr. Twist,” on New York’s Moon Ska label, is selling well. “The album is doing fairly well, about 11,000 to 12,000 copies sold; and over 25,000 of the first album,” said Michel. “That’s good for an independent label. There has not been a lot advertising — it’s all word of mouth.”

Let’s Go Bowling is one of America’s hottest ska acts, and at an opportune time. Ska – the danceable, horn-driven precursor to reggae — is at a peak of popularity in the United States. Such popular bands as Rancid, No Doubt and Sublime incorporate ska into their sound. Michel, who has seen the musical trends go up and down in the last 10 years, is cautiously optimistic. “Everybody we talk to in the music industry says 1997 is supposed to be the summer of ska,” he said, “and that ska in 1997 and ’98 could be like grunge was in the early ’90s.” “I’ve been hearing that myself since the mid-’80s. We’ve been up, we’ve been down, but this is by far the widest response – and the widest range of people we’ve ever seen at concerts.” “When we started, [crowds were] all ‘scene’ people – just those into the ska scene. Now we’re seeing college students, businessmen, hippies, whoever.”

Show time tonight is 8 p.m.; admission is $7. At press time, opening acts had not been announced. Sugarhill Skatepark is at 4202 W. Sierra Madre, just south of Shaw Avenue between Blythe and Brawley Avenues. Details: 277-9670