Music Scene
For Crashers, island gig means having fun

By Derek Paiva
Advertiser Staff Writer

The mostly-Berkeley, Calif.-based ska-punk band Dance Hall Crashers is a local concert favorite. The group has performed here almost every year since 1993. However, the band is reducing the number of shows it does a year, playing only in its favorite places. Debra McClinton Dance Hall Crashers 7 p.m. Saturday World Cafe $16.50 526-4400

"You all chilling out post-concert somewhere in the middle of an exotic European world tour?" the writer asked of the group.

"'We all' are not in the middle of anything," said Rogers, with a throaty laugh. "I'm on vacation. The band is in the U.S. This is my vacation for the year."

As such, Rogers was barely lending thought to a Christmas Eve return to her Hollywood home and meeting with the rest of the mostly-Berkeley, Calif.-based Crashers for rehearsals before tomorrow's World Cafe concert. But she did have her mind on Hawai'i, a favorite performance and vacation haunt for the band since 1993.

"Honolulu has always been a very special place for us," said Rogers, speaking for bandmates Karina Denike (vocals), Jason Hammon (guitar), Mikey Weiss (bass) and Gavin Hammon (drums). "It wasn't one of the first places we went to, but we started touring there early on. Our first show was at (Pink's) Garage. And we just keep coming back. We probably have more fun there than anywhere else we go."

In return, Honolulu fans of the Crashers have rewarded the band by returning, Deadhead like, time and time again to skank to the band's funky blend of ska and punk. Tomorrow's concert is typical of the Crashers' live performance schedule of late: a one-stop concert reflecting the band's reduced touring schedule.

"We toured for so many years, and we've been around for a really long time," Rogers said of the band, formed in 1989 and boasting its current lineup since 1992. "It's gotten to the point where there are so many other things in this world that we want to be doing, that after you've toured for six or seven years, it's not something that you want to do for the rest of your life."

With Rogers living in Hollywood and Weiss in New York, the Crashers played just two shows this year, in Los Angeles and San Francisco. A Japan trip was canceled after the Sept. 11 attacks and postponed until February 2002.

"Now when we do our five or so shows a year, we do them in our favorite places, and it's not like a job anymore," Rogers said. "When we do get together to play, it's a lot more fun, because we don't see each other as much and we're not on the road 250 times a year."

Post-concert, the band plans to ring in the new year in Honolulu before flying to San Francisco Jan. 4 for a hometown gig. And like Mainland college kids returning home for winter break, they're already craving their favorite local grinds.

"We pretty much go to Eggs 'n Things for breakfast every day," Rogers said. "It's not hard to find us when we're there."