BY COLE RIVARD
The Planet Smashers, arguably Canada's biggest ska band, is
going to be returning to Sudbury this evening.
This is the band's first show in Sudbury in some time. It
was scheduled to play a Sudbury show in November but cancelled
due to a last-minute invitation to be the opening act for
multi-platinum selling pop-punk band Simple Plan on the West
Coast tour.
"We got offered the Simple Plan gig, and decided to take it,
because it was our first chance to do an arena tour," said
Planet Smashers frontman Matt Collyer.
"It was a chance to do something different. They have a
different crowd, and, as we'd later find out, not really our
crowd. With that decision, we rolled the dice, and came up
short."
Collyer, coincidentally, is also the label manager for Union
Label Group. Union Label Group had previously handled a band
known as Reset, of whom three of the members would go on to
form Simple Plan.
And although Union Label Group has had a history of
supporting many punk, ska, and indie rock bands, it managed to
have its first mainstream hit with the release of Bedouin
Soundclash's Sounding a Mosaic in 2005.
The Planet Smashers will be playing at the only venue that
it has ever played in Sudbury, the Towne House Tavern on Elgin
St.
"It all goes back to our first tour in 1995-96," said
Collyer. "That club is famous in the underground scene. It's a
dive, but that's what makes it so great. There's been knifings,
bar brawls, things like that. But playing there is always a
great time. It's run by guys we've known for years."
"I can remember this one time we played there, some crazy
lady wanted to be rolled in a carpet and have the band make out
with her.
"We regret cancelling the previous show at the last minute, but we're hoping to make it up this time."
The Planet Smashers are a five-piece act, comprised of Collyer
on guitar and vocals, Andrew Lattoni on trombone, Neil
"Lonestar" Johnson on tenor saxophone and Dave Cooper on
bass.
The band currently doesn't have a full-time drummer,
following the departure of long-time bandmate Scott Russell in
January.
The band has managed to carve its own niche in the Canadian
music scene. A second album, 1997's Attack of the Planet
Smashers, managed to reach No. 2 on the national college radio
charts. The band came to full force among the ska revival
movement in the late 1990s, of which acts such as the Mighty
Mighty Bosstones and No Doubt became famous for.
"We are definitely one of the most recognizable ska bands in
Canada," said Collyer.
"Over the years, we've become much better musicians, and it
shines through in our shows. Ska is the kind of music that's
built around having a good time. It's about partying. The beat
is almost always pretty basic, and I think that's why people
can so easily get into it."
The Sudbury show comes in the middle of a short tour with label-mates Westbound Train, with previous performances in Sherbrooke and Ottawa, and with some upcoming dates in Toronto, Waterloo and Barrie.
"We are doing this short swing through Ontario, than that's
about it until the fall," said Collyer.
"We are going to try to record a live record, which is something we've never done, and probably record a DVD at the same time."
The show will be $10 with tickets, or $14 at the door. Tickets
can be purchased at the Towne House or at Records on
Wheels.
Cole Rivard is a Cambrian College journalism student who is doing his placement at Northern Life.