Denver Ska Fest 2026
Date: May 16, 2026
Location: The Mission Ballroom
I’ve been to quite a few concerts before, but never one where there are two bands playing that I both want to see. Enter Denver Ska Fest 2026, which gave me my first concert experience for Five Iron Frenzy, as well as my third or fourth time seeing The Aquabats in concert. As a festival-like concert, none of the bands seemed to have any higher billing than any of the others. Each one had a unique way they were tied to the ska genre of music, which made the whole evening quite fun.
The night started off with The Potato Pirates. They incorporated bagpipes into their sound in a way that felt natural and punk rock. Their lyrics were less family-friendly than the other acts, but I’ve usually avoided the more punk-ska acts until now. Dance Hall Crashers wrapped up the evening. This duo of women was also a unique experience because usually there are more members in a ska band and they’re usually predominantly men. Still, they brought the same high-energy songs that ska is known for.
Having missed Five Iron Frenzy in their heyday, I was excited to see one of my favorite bands in concert, finally! They perform almost identically to the way they sound on CD (or vinyl), so I easily kept up with the classics they played—although I did struggle with some of the more recent stuff because I haven’t listened to it nearly as much. What was more interesting was watching The Aquabats, who I have only really seen when they moved away from their ska origins. Hearing a bunch of deep cuts with assistance from the other ska bands was something I hadn’t realized I’d missed out on until now.