MARK FOGGO'S SKASTERS, Wickeda, La Muchedumbre
24.04.2009, ‘Blue Box’ club, Sofia - Bulgaria

words by: Nasso Ruskov, photos: Elena Nenkova.

Tangra Mega Rock's 3rd birthday bash was destined to be one helluva monster knees up! This is, after all, the one and only true rock'n'roll radio station in Bulgaria - where anything goes on air and you can almost smell and taste the freedom that rebels from Jerry Lee Lewis to the Sex Pistols fought hard to attain and defend!

Free mind, free spirit and some bloody good fun is what we were promised...and that's exactly what we got.

SpringtimeВ  in Bulgaria is, quite simply, fabulous - a green kingdom of sun and beer and smiles! Hence a large portion of the 700+ crowd that came to see Mark Foggo's Skasters, Wickeda and La Muchedumbre were in no haste to enter the venue - opting instead to booze, chat and spliff it up in the little park outside.В 

Those that did enter early were mixing it up in the lobby, checking out the merch or ordering bevvies at the bar. This meant that opening act La Muchedumbre had to start their set to an almost empty room. Not fazed at all, they launched into a longish instrumental intro that turned out to be a perfect platform for the band to warm up and then hit us with their first "proper" song. When they did hit us, La Muchedumbre practically exploded and forced droves of people from the lobby into the space in front of the stage. Each number saw more and more people come in to witness and appreciate the band's ska/funk/swing/punk/core jubilation. With a skinny and animated frontman, La Muchedumbre are already pulling them in at club level - all they need now is a few more memorable tunes and they'll be packing bigger venues, no problem.

Next up were WICKEDA- a band that has been going for more than 10 years. A band who exploded onto the local scene with their debut single and album and had, for the duration of one hot Summer back then, the entire nation singing along to their music! Since their overnight success, Wickeda have developed and diversified their sound, toured Europe many times and evolved into a tight rebel-party-gung ho machine to behold and hear!В В 

The band is tight as fuck, they've got their horns back and they sure know how to get a crowd going! Their set sees a little kid run onstage and ask the band if he can stagedive...Once given permission and encouraged by the roar of the crowd, kiddo dives in and is carried high for a good while - it's all fantastic fun and ties in pretty well with the band's overall vibe of positivity and freedom.

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The band play all their hits as the crowd sing along! It's riveting stuff and it sets us up nicely for the headline act...

MARK FOGGO'S SKASTERS....Well, they've been here before...and they had a fucking blinder! Well, tonight, believe it or not, they actually topped that previous show! Oh yes they bloody well did! The band came on and played an intro, slowly building up anticipation...meanwhile, in the aisles, Mark Foggo - ska warrior and true adventurer extraordinaire - warmed up and got ready to show us young uns a few things...or ten!

The Skasters hit us with 'Bumpy Airlines', 'Not Scott', 'Spaceman Stuff' and the sublime 'Haircuts', during which Mark brandished a massive pair of scissors, not that he'll need them mind you. The entire band simply did not stop jumping about throughout the duration of the gig, whilst not missing a note. Mark Foggo is one lovely nutter of a frontman and they don't make 'em like that nowadays, that's for sure.

One thing is certain - Bulgaria simply adores Mark and his Skasters and that was evident was before they launched into their encore rendition of "Hashish From Amsterdam", a song that has proved to be phenomenally populat in this part of the Globe. "We don't usually play this one too often actually", said Mark in an interview prior to the gig. "Well, if you don't play it tonight, they'll tear the place apart" - warned we. And tear the place apart they did, anyway....Happy days!

GALLERY