I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: April 23, 2026] Catbite

I have known about Catbite for a while–WXPN plays them a lot.  They’re part of, I guess, a fourth wave of ska bands.  Although they might be the only one at the moment.

I was a big fan of the third wave of ska, so this is a welcome comeback.  While Catbite is a bit more No Doubt than Mighty Mighty Bosstones, they do embrace everything about ska (except the clothes).

I never wanted to see them as a headliner, but I had always hoped they’d open for someone.  And what better band to open for than Fishbone?

Catbite took the stage and jumped right into some bouncy ska with Not Ur Baby.  It was fun being up front with a band dancing around on stage–there wasn’t much dancing on the floor, though which kind of stunk.  I was intrigued that their drummer Chris Pires was facing the wall.  This was because Fishbone is huge and that was the best way to fit everyone.  How strange it must be to not be facing the rest of the band.

I didn’t realize they had 3 albums out, but they played a song from their debut–which was a little more ska.  I also realized that they didn’t have horns.  I don’t know if they normally do. I didn’t really miss them, but ska is definitely horn-friendly.

They played a bunch of songs from their latest EP including Tired of Talk, a song that has gotten a lot of airplay.  In fact the end of the set was terrific–Call Your Bluff, the first song I’d heard from them was great to hear live.  Brittany Luna is a fun frontwoman with a lot of energy and the intensity to call people out if they’re not dancing. I was next to Ben Perry who had such a great bass sound and kept everything moving.

Guitarist Tim Hildebrand and keyboardist Kayleigh Malloy were on the far side of the stage.  The final two songs were the single Die in Denver and then the outrageously infectious Excuse Me Miss ended the set with a bang.  I never really got to see much ska in the previous resurgence, so it was fun to se the next generation doing their thing.

• Not Ur Baby √
• Scratch Me Up ∇
• Asinine Aesthetic √
• Bad Influence √
• Creepin √
• Put ‘Em Away ♠
• Tired of Talk ♠
• Call Your Bluff √
• Die In Denver ♠
• Excuse Me Miss √

♠ Doom Garden EP (2025)
√ Nice One (2021)
∇ Catbite (2019)