.Slow Gherkin Reunites for NYC Show, Announces Phoenix Theater Date

After 10 years of touring the world, Santa Cruz ska band Slow Gherkin called it quits in 2002. The group was immensely popular in their time, playing to crowds of hundred of hair-dyed, skankin’ skaters and giving high school band kids who played saxophone at Friday night football games something “cool” to aspire to. But since their last gig in 2002, Slow Gherkin has played precisely two shows: one was three years ago in Santa Cruz, and one just last week a the Rock Shop in New York City. And the big news: the band says they will be playing in December at the Phoenix Theater in Petaluma.
Slow Gherkin was one of the best ska bands at a time when fellow skankers the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Less than Jake, Goldfinger and Reel Big Fish were all over the airwaves, both on radio and television (remember when MTV shows music videos?). They were one of the top acts in the Bay Area, relentlessly touring for six years and gaining a following across the country as well as in Europe throughout the ’90s. “Trapped Like Rats in Myers Flats,” from their second album, Shed Some Skin, is still a singalong hit, as shown by their sold-out New York performance. And to this day, their version of Hava Nagila is one of the best tracks on my “These Songs Will Make Everyone Dance” playlist.
They wrote really good songs, not just fun, dancy teenage punk diddies with poppy, upstrummed guitar. If stripped down to acoustic guitar and voice, they’d be the best song of the night at any cafe’s open mic session. Their lyrics are deep and music moving; songs stands up to any by those who made it really big, and it always felt like it would just take that one catchy lick, that one un-erasable melody to cement Slow Gherkin’s place in music lore.
But, alas, they remain mostly a local memory for Bay Area music lovers who grew up in the Clinton era. Do these two shows in one year—double what they’ve played in the 13 years leading up to this point—signal a full-fledged reunion? One can only hope. But one thing’s sure: if you plan to attend their December show at the Phoenix Theater, it might be good to start polishing those Doc Martins now—they’re probably pretty dusty.