Above: Survay Says! is fronted by brothers Henry Menzel (right) and Dennis “D.Jay” Menzel on trombone (center). Below, left: Brent Friedman on drums. Photos by Brittany Woolsey. Gallery below.
The five-piece New Jersey ska band Survay Says!—along with Isolated Victims, The Skariginals, The A-OKs, Be Like Max and The Last Slice—played to a packed house at DiPiazza’s on Wednesday night, as the The Ska Revival Tour hit Long Beach.
As a writer, the random act of punctuation—though that exclaimation point speaks to the band’s energy and the excitement of seeing them live—and lack of proper spelling in the band name Survay Says! bothers me. It’s a good thing their live show makes up for that and then some. Survay Says!’ (Survay Says!’s? Ugh.) set time was originally scheduled for much later in the night, but after drummer Brent Friedman expressed concern that many of his hometown friends wouldn’t be able to stay too late, the band played earlier in the evening instead of headlining. Friedman left his home in Huntington Beach earlier this year to join Survay Says!, a full-time touring band.
The DiPiazza’s show was the two-tone group’s 121st show of 2014, said singer Henry Menzel. Still, the band—which has gained a reputation in the ska scene for being fun and energetic—showed a vivacious energy that belied a lack of sleep, showers or their precious Del Taco meals.
Playing tunes like “Aim to Misbehave,” which had a pop-punk flair a la Blink-182, and covers like “So Let’s Go Nowhere,” originally by the Arrogant Sons of Bitches, the band amped up the crowd, who skanked and moshed throughout the whole set.
Despite instrumental problems like a broken bass string, the group still shared a sense of professionalism as they kept playing despite the struggles. In fact, they joked about them.
“There’s no bass? I was wondering why this band sounds even shittier than they already do,” Menzel said.
“Guys, welcome to the GWAR show,” added Menzel’s brother and trombonist Dennis Menzel. “There’s blood from where he cut his hand on the bass string.”
Henry Menzel, knowing so many SoCal fans showed up for the return of their friend Friedman and his lady friend (and merch girl), Jessica Lamat, spoke of their return.
“They left their lifetime home to tour on the road full-time,” Henry Menzel said. “If that doesn’t show bravery, I don’t know what does. We took them away from Del Taco and they still want to be in the band.”
With that, the audience began chanting “Del Taco,” leaving Friedman to smile behind his Adventure Time-inspired drum kit.
Henry Menzel promised the band would be back in the fall partially because of Friedman and Lamat. “All we do is tour, and if I don’t bring them back to you guys, they’ll complain,” he joked.
Survay Says! ended its set with “Denial,” which the Menzel brothers dedicated to their late father, who served as a police officer, firefighter and veteran. During the song, a fight broke out in the middle of the pit, which ironically led to a showing of the type of commaderie familiar to the ska scene.
As one fan pointed out, everyone in the ska scene seems to know each other since it is so small, and no one seemed to know the men who were throwing punches toward others in the pit. “Not here!” the fan yelled. “Go somewhere else and get out of our scene. You’re not welcome.”
Survay Says! is expected to release more Southern California tour dates soon, following their upcoming tour with MxPx and Zebrahead.
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