We are back to highlight another band playing the Vans Warped Tour, and this week we have a reunion two decades in the making. Although no strangers to multiple genres (Ice-T, Katy Perry), at its heart the Vans Warped Tour was always about showcasing the best in punk and ska music.
Few bands represented this idea better than Berkeley, CA’s Dance Hall Crashers. While their mainstream popularity never quite reached the same level as similar bands (No Doubt, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Save Ferris) their contribution and influence on the ska punk ethos cannot be denied.
The band was formed by none other than Rancid lead singer/guitarist Tim Armstrong, and bassist Matt Freeman. Following the dissolution of their legendary ska punk band, Operation Ivy in 1987, and before Rancid began in 1991, Dance Hall Crashers took formation with Armstrong on vocals, Freeman on guitar, Erik Larsen on drums, and Joel Wing on bass.
Shortly after their first show at the famed 924 Gilman St, Armstrong and Freeman would leave to eventually form Rancid. After a few lineup changes, the band was solidified with Larsen and Wing, as well as co-lead vocalists Karina Deniké and Elyse Rogers, and guitarists Jason Hammon and Jaime McCormick.
Dance Hall Crashers saw success on MTV and radio play with the single, “Lost Again.” They were featured on sleeper movie soundtracks such as “Angus,” “Biodome,” and “Meet the Deedles.” The band is referenced in blink-182’s “Josie” with, “Yeah, my girlfriend likes UL (Unwritten Law) and DHC (Dance Hall Crashers).”
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Unlike other similar dual-vocalist bands, such as blink-182, Deniké and Rogers would often sing simultaneously, and overlay vocals providing for powerful, two-party harmony. At the time, female vocalists were not as common in punk and ska music as they are today.
You can see how Deniké and Rogers paved the way for future female-fronted ska bands like Catbite, Bite Me Bambi, Half Past Two, and Chase Long Beach.
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However, following the ‘90s, DHC would begin performing far less frequently as members began pursuing other interests. They recorded a live DVD for the “Show Must Go Off” series from Vandals’ bassist Joe Escalante’s Kung Fu Films, before eventually going on indefinite hiatus.
Since then, Deniké had been busy touring with NOFX for the past decade as keyboardist and backing vocalist, until that group’s end last October.
This past January, Warped Tour founder Kevin Lyman, and Rogers announced that Dance Hall Crashers would be performing at the Long Beach and Washington, D.C. stops.
In addition, the band will be performing a one-off show at The Great American Music Hall in San Francisco on June 7th and have made it clear this will be their last show of the year.
With that show already quickly sold out, if you’re wise you’ll do what you can to either make it to Long Beach or D.C. to get “Lost Again” and relive your ‘90s youth.
