Ska Island Brought the Heat to the Pier

It was one of the hotter Wednesdays of the summer, the kind where the pier's concrete practically shimmers by 6pm. Ska Island didn't seem to notice. The Seattle-based ska group came in high-energy and stayed there, and somewhere around the second half of the set the heat finally broke, the air cooled off, and the evening turned into exactly the kind of night Concerts on the Pier is built for.

The singer doubles on trombone, and between songs he told story after story - the kind of between-song banter that actually adds something instead of just filling time. Heartfelt, a little rambling, clearly personal. It made the whole set feel less like a performance and more like a band letting a town in on something.

Behind the kit, the drummer held down the low end on one of the best-looking setups I've seen on that stage - a green kit, colorful in the best way, and he played it like he was having the most fun of anyone up there. Covers and originals both landed. Nobody in the crowd seemed to be able to tell the difference, which is a good sign.

And the crowd. Once the heat let go, people moved - full dancing up front, kids weaving through camp chairs, grandparents right next to toddlers, friends and families all claiming their patch of pier. Ska has a way of pulling in every age at once, and Wednesday proved it.

Credit also to High Country Mini Doughnuts, parked at the edge of it all. The doughnuts were excellent, but it was the woman running the stand who made the stop memorable - she was warm and patient with my daughter and sent her off with a sticker. That's the kind of small-town detail that sticks with you longer than the music does.

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