In Defense of Ska Ep 73: Dane Roberts (Victoria Ska & Reggae Festival)

In the summer of 2000, ska was on the decline in the US, but up in Victoria, Canada, it was as popular as ever. Local promoter Dane Roberts--who'd been throwing ska shows for a few years--decided to throw a full-on ska festival. It was in part a tribute to Mathew Bishop, the man that introduced him to ska (he'd died from a mountain climbing accident two years earlier), and it was Dane's final college assignment. If the festival made money, he passed. If it didn't, he failed. 

The first year of the Victoria Ska & Reggae Festival was a big success. Dane booked Chris Murray, The Scofflaws, King Django, and a reunion show for local favorites, Pressure Cooker. But the following year, ska died in Victoria, and attendance dropped. But Dane kept the festival going anyway, even paying out of pocket to do so. 

He kept the Victoria Ska & Reggae Festival going no matter how popular (or unpopular) ska was. And he even expanded the festival to include acts rooted in ska and reggae. It's the longest-running ska festival in North America. Guests over the years have included Fishbone, Less Than Jake, The Wailers, Ozomatli, The Real McKenzies, The Sierra Leone Refugee All Stars, Mos Def, Neville Staple, Cherry Poppin' Daddies, Voodoo Glow Skulls, The Itals, Ky-Mani Marley, Toots and the Maytals, Dr. Ring Ding, and Larry and His Flask. 

The festival celebrates its 23rd year on June 22-26, 2022. We sit down with Dane to learn more about the festival's history, why he's so in love with ska, and get a glimpse of Victoria's local ska scene with groups like The Bombasts, Pressure Cooker, One Drop and Grossbuster. 

Tickets can be purchased at https://victoriaskafest.ca

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If you like our theme song, go download the EP Lives by Slow Gherkin. They wrote the opening and closing songs for our podcast. You can get both tunes from their Lives EP. Also, check out Dan P and the Bricks two LPs. They provided the mid-roll ad transition music. 

Support the In Defense host Aaron Carnes by purchasing a copy of his book, In Defense of Ska. The 2nd, expanded edition of In Defense of Ska will release in Oct 2024. 

Co-host Adam Davis has a band called Omnigone. Their latest record, Against The Rest released on March 31, 2023. 

The In Defense of Ska editor Chris Reeves runs a record label called Ska Punk International. They have new releases coming out all the time.