Music review: Boston's ska-punksters Big D and the Kids Table 'invigorating' in live show

Concert review: Big D and the Kids Table, with Left Alone, Warn the Duke, Oct. 30 at Brighton Music Hall, Boston

BOSTON – Having seen the name in listings ever since I began doing the Music Scene column, my curiosity finally got me to catch a show from Boston ska band Big D and The Kids Table. Sunday night at Brighton Music Hall was, it turned out, the 25th year the octet has done a Halloween show in their hometown. (Not that there was any formal contest, but the guy in the Spider-Man costume seemed to be the crowd favorite.)

Big D and the Kids Table delivered about 75 minutes of punk-flavored ska that was loud, invigorating, at times angry or joyful, and surging with energy throughout.  Their songs tend to be short and to the point, so that the set packed at least 20 songs into that time frame, yet with most of the crowd dancing and quite a few even crowd-surfing, by the time the band finished the sweat-soaked audience was thoroughly worn out.

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Big D and the Kids Table got its start in 1997, when all the members were attending Berklee College of Music. There have been plenty of lineup changes since then, including some members leaving but then returning. More importantly, the band has released 11 albums and at least five EPs over the years, with the most recent being 2021’s “Do Your Art” on SideOneDummy Records. Along the way they have developed an international reputation and toured all over. They’ll spend much of November in Canada, and then head for the West Coast for December.

Big D and the Kids Table’s current lineup includes singer/songwriter/guitarist David McWane, Alex Stern on guitar, Ryan O’Connor on tenor sax, Alex Brander on drums, Ben Basile on bass, Logan LaBarbera on trombone, Jonathan Degen on tenor sax and Casey Gruttadauria on keyboards.  There were aspects of the band’s sound that reminded you of the Dropkick Murphys, for their full-bore rock fury, but the DKMs meld more traditional Celtic sounds with punk, and their ska is more subtly woven in. Big D and the Kids Table is about two steps further into the punk-rock realm, but with a stronger ska quotient too, almost as if Mighty Mighty Bosstones were mixed in a test tube with The Clash (who had their own ska roots). But the arrangements are all concise and very dynamic, and it is difficult to listen without moving around.

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One early song was interesting, as Big D and the Kids Table also evoke The Clash for their political nuances, and the number apparently called “Let Stoners Get High” began as an acoustic ballad, before ramping up into a double-timed sprint that had all the costumed revelers jumping in the air. There was an elastic kind of push-and-pull quality to the slow burn of “Jeremy,” a soulful tune about a pet turtle.

Easily one of the night’s highpoints was “Too Much” from the latest album, as boisterous a ska-rocker as anything DKMs or The Clash ever did, with added heft in the booming rhythms. The tune “L.A.X.” brought out that political side again – let’s say it doesn’t take kindly to the 1 percent – and was framed in a swirling, chaotic roar, capped off by McWane leaping offstage to crowd-surf himself. In their encore segment, the subdued and soulful ballad “Halfway Home” rode an easy-bumping rhythm as the guitars and horns crafted a delightful melody. The night ended in a loud ska-rocker that was pure jubilation, sending the 300 fans home satisfied, sweaty and exhausted.

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Music review: Boston's Big D and the Kids Table 'loud, invigorating'