The AceTones on a Friday night, what a way to kick off the season of performances at Bethells Beach Café, Te Henga. One of Auckland’s best-kept secrets, ska band The Acetones are an eight-piece of local legends who regularly pull a hundred-plus crowd, ready to ska-skank the night away.
As the band takes to the stage, set up on a few mats under a gazebo in a tree-lined amphitheatre in the clearing by the Bethells beach café. A crowd has poured in, with BYO seating scattered across the ground, and children and dogs playing in the foreground the sunshine fades away, the fairy lights begin to twinkle, an irresistible party atmosphere can be felt.
Tonight the dance floor is sand, and with Darren Bowyer-Warner, aka The Mighty Jabsco, and his Caribbean/Leeds-authentic, distinctive vocal style, we could be at a beach bar in Jamaica. The band draws inspiration from some of Jamaican music’s founders but is in its element across the genre, playing a mix of ska, rocksteady, and dub.
This is reflected in the set list. A heady mix of classics and AceTones’ originals that don’t disappoint. Four songs in and The Mighty Jabsco is in falsetto, the higher pitch of Rolling Like A Trojan travelling out across the spring night before the band slip seamlessly into the heavier dub grind of fan favourite Goliath.
Svetlanka is a new addition to the band and a seasoned performer who has toured overseas with Lollypop Lorry, bringing a powerful, soulful voice that adds a funky vibe to tracks like Won’t Let You Go and Jamaica Ska.
All singing, all dancing, with a Top-ranking horn lineup, rockin’ steady rhythm section and 60s-style keyboards, the AceTones are the real deal! The crowd are dance crazy, hot and sweaty on this mild spring night they call for more before the band finish on Sweet Ting.
Fifteen years later, the AceTones are still bringing it, the backbone of NZ ska, and they have some material and recordings in the pipeline.
Don’t miss them on 29/01/27 back at Bethells Beach Café, it’s going to go off!
Phoebe Gilmour
Photo by Rob Cawte
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