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The Untouchables made an all-too-rare headlining appearance in the Bay Area on Saturday night (Aug. 22).
And the legendary Los Angeles-based outfit used the opportunity to show that America’s first great ska band is still its best.
The eight-piece act, which is led by original member Chuck Askerneese on vocals, sounded fabulous as it delivered a high-energy 15-song set at the lovely Guild Theatre in Menlo Park.
The groundbreaking group, which came out of L.A.’s Silver Lake area in the early ’80s and went on to influence countless other acts all around SoCal and well beyond, kicked off its roughly 80-minute set with a manic take on “Be Alright” from 2000’s hybrid comeback-retrospective outing “Ghetto Stout.” From there, The UTs (as the band is often referred to by fans) jumped right into it’s all-time-great debut — 1985’s “Wild Child” — for an inspired version on the crowd favorite “I Spy (For the FBI).” Of course, the act — which original vocalist Kevin Long once famously described as “mods who played ska music” — has gone through many lineup changes throughout the decades.
Most notably, Clyde “The City Gent” Grimes — the group’s guitarist and primary songwriter — died 10 years ago and co-frontman/vocalist Jerry “The EQ” Miller passed in October 2024 at the age of 68.
Askerneese is fully in charge of steering the good ship Untouchables in concert now and he proved to be a terrific frontman at The Guild, bringing tons of energy to the stage while delivering spot-on vocal work.
And he’s certainly working in front of a powerhouse ensemble, fueled by an fiery three-piece horn section, dynamite rhythm section and nice keyboard and guitar work that combine to really get the crowd skanking.
Not surprisingly, almost all of the big highlights came courtesy of “Wild Child” — which is as great a ska-revival album as you’ll likely ever find.
That number includes the rough-and-rowdy tale of “Mandingo” ( “a real mean dude”), the radio-friendly soul-pop ballad “What’s Gone Wrong” (which offers up some impeccable toasting, while showcasing The UTs at their most UB40-esque) and the empowering anthem “Free Yourself” (which, yes, I realize first appeared on an earlier EP, but most fans know it from “Wild Child”).
All of these great songs combined in concert to make me wonder, yet again, why the mighty UTs never became a big commercial success?
And part of that answer appears t o be that America just wasn’t ready for them, a point that is seemingly underscored by the fact that the band had its greatest chart success in the far-more-ska-friendly confines of the U.K.
These attendees at The Guild, however, were certainly listening back in the day — on their cassette/vinyl copies of “Wild Child” — and sang along with Askerneese on all the big numbers.
The band brought brought the main set to a close in thrilling fashion with the “Wild Child” title track before returning for an equally fun three-song encore that finally concluded with its fired-up rendition of the ’60s garage-rock standard “(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone.” The Inciters were also on the bill, serving as the opening act and setting the table nicely for The UTs with their updated take on vintage ’60s and ’70s soul.
The Santa Cruz-based band, which also features a cool horn section, is definitely worth catching in concert if you get the chance.
1) “Be Alright” 2) “I Spy (For the FBI)” 3) “Live and Let Dance” 4) “Mandingo” 5) “Tear the Gate Down” 6) “Second Chance” 7) “Whiplash” 8) “Twist & Shake” 9) “What’s Gone Wrong?” 10) “Lebanon” 11) “Bond” 12) “Wild Child” Encore: 13) “Laser Show” 14) “Lonely Bull” 15) “(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone”
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