Wake up, babe. New ska band just dropped.

The Dead Bettys is one Lawrence’s newest bands, but is already making a ska-lossal entrance (sorry, we had to, it’s the ska way). When they decided to throw a holiday show (and Just Food benefit) at the Bottleneck on Saturday night, we were pleasantly surprised to see the place packed so hard, it may have nearly sold out. We’ve never seen a holiday-themed show with so many Christmas decorations. They were scattered everywhere, leaving barely enough room for the fans to pick it up.

The band was big. Reel Big (sorry). There were at least ten members in the band (if they stood still long enough, we could have gotten a better count). Guitars, a full horn section, and nonstop enthusiasm scattered (skattered?) on and off the stage. Half the musicians are doctors and the rest were veteran musicians from the scene– and while doctor bands tend to stay committed to the Jazzhaus, the Dead Bettys are so far having a further reach in the Downtown scene. They played two sets full of ska covers, as well as some pop ballads that they reworked into ska arrangements (skarrangements, if you will). The crowd was so enthusiastic that they fogged up the windows completely at the Bottleneck.

This was definitely a band for people who like to let loose and party, and with it being so close to the holiday the fans (we’ll call them skaficionados, as they knew almost all the words to the songs) were ready to throw down hard (and then pickituppickituppickitup again).