Saratoga News

Photograph by Robert Scheer

SHS alumnus Eric Fanali (left) is promoting the concert, while Saratoga Youth Commissioner Alex Scordelis is in charge of the show. His band, Mall Security, will play the concert, along with several other groups.

Youth Commission concert features ska, rock

By John Pancharian

Many people don't connect the Saratoga Community Center with hard-driving rock & roll, but all that is about to change. Continuing in its never-ending search for fun, funding and a little respect, the Saratoga Youth Commission is putting on a benefit show at the community center on April 17.

Did we say rock & roll? Most of the music is ska, actually--quick-tempoed, brass-intensive dance music that has its roots in Jamaican dance halls. And there are some talented practitioners of ska and rock lined up for the show. Local band Mall Security opens the show at 6 p.m., followed by the Mosquitones, My Superhero, The Jamóns, The Huxtables and their first cousins Slow Gherkin; then Monkey plays the last slot at midnight. The Mosquitones are coming all the way from Boise to play the show, and no one is quite sure what to expect from My Superhero, which features three guitars, a drummer and, yes, an accordion.

Concerts such as this one for Saratoga teens were once relatively common, but city budget restraints have quieted things down.

"Basically, the Youth Commission gets no money [for music events] from the city," said Youth Commissioner Alex Scordelis, who is responsible for the commission's concert program. "We used to put on the music fest in Wildwood Park, Togapalooza, but all that got axed this year."

In fact, the Youth Commission receives $75,000 from the city annually, but that money must pay for all expenses incurred by the commission and the Warner Hutton House Teen Center, including repairs to the house, activities there and the salaries of staff who assist with the commission and center. In practice, there has not been anything left over for music.

Scordelis, a junior at Bellarmine College Preparatory, is also the commission secretary and one of the members of Mall Security. He said that since the commission had its funding cut after the failure of the utility-user's tax, it has done almost nothing except fundraising. "We're supposed to be providing recreation for youth, activities and safe stuff to do," he said, and added that he felt bad about needing to charge youth for the events the commission manages to put on.

To ensure the success of the April 17 show, Scordelis called in another local youth, Saratoga High School alumnus and self-styled concert promoter Eric Fanali. Now a freshman at San Jose State University, Fanali fell into the promotion business accidentally but quickly gained a reputation as a dynamic ska-oriented promoter. Through his one-man company, Grand Fanali Presents, he has produced shows all over the Bay Area and in Santa Cruz. And April 17 is his birthday.

Fanali has made a habit of putting on benefit shows, lining up quality bands for little or no pay and taking home nothing himself but the glow the music gives him. "We're basically creating the musical budget with this show," he said. "My goal is $2,000."

Slow Gherkin and Monkey are mainstays in Fanali's shows, but he said he is particularly excited about getting My Superhero this time around. "I'm really happy to have something a little different in the lineup. They have a bit more of a pop sound," he said.

The show has a spy and sci-fi theme, so dress accordion...er, accordingly. Tickets are $5 at the door. The Saratoga Community Center is located at 19655 Allendale Ave.

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