Danny Knapp | SoCal Session & Touring Bass Guitarist

OC Music News was in attendance for Ska Smackdown II on January 10th at the Garden Amp in Garden Grove, and reviewer Kevin Gomez had plenty to say about The Goodwin Club’s opening set.

The band showed up dressed as a bunch of elderly women, with singer Tami Demaree joking, “We’re The Golden Girls!” ocmusicnews The crowd loved every second of it. Classics like “Everything” and “Sorry Not Sorry” had the whole crowd skanking and singing along to every word, while guitarist Charles Grey delivered a standout solo to close out “Little Girl.” ocmusicnews

The set only got wilder from there. The band nailed a ska cover of Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off,” then closed with “Turkey Tit,” which featured a brief nod to Op Ivy’s “Sound System” as trumpeter Chris Graue played his way through the pit and into the stands. ocmusicnews

Read the full live report on OC Music News

The Indy Review was on the ground at Ska Smackdown II on January 10th at the Garden Amp in Garden Grove, CA — and The Goodwin Club set the tone for the entire night.

Reviewer b.liebman noted that the band took the stage dressed as The Golden Girls, blasting confetti poppers into the air theindyreview — and the energy never let up from there. The set included feel-good originals like “See All Color,” oldies like “Everything” and “Little Girl,” and a ska cover of Taylor Swift, closing with the singalong anthem “Join the Club” to get the audience’s vocal cords warmed up for the festive evening ahead. theindyreview

The reviewer also noted that the O.C. has a knack for breeding great female-fronted ska-influenced bands — citing The Goodwin Club alongside No Doubt and others as part of that proud local tradition. theindyreview

Read the full live report on The Indy Review

The Goodwin Club turned heads at Ska Smackdown 2, held January 10th at the Garden Amp in Garden Grove, CA.

Writing for Skanking News!, reviewer Jacob “Jack” Armas gave the recently reunited band some of the night’s highest praise, calling their set “the most fun of the night” and describing it as a performance that “screamed 3rd wave ska.” The Goodwin Club brought the full package: a six-piece horn section (three trumpets, two trombones, and one alto sax), confetti cannons firing on the opening song, and a setlist mixing originals with covers of The Aquabats! and Taylor Swift.

Armas noted that the band — originally known for their teenage energy back in the early ’90s — arrived thirty years later having “not skipped a beat.”

Read the full review on Skanking News!