"A Visit from St. Murphy’s (Kids)" 

By Andrew Carder Wolfe

’TWAS the week before Christmas, and at the Canal Club,
A big show was brewing, filled with holiday love.
The stockings were stuffed with canned goods to spare,
And hopes that the Murphy’s Kids soon would be there.

The crowd was all restless in front of the stage,      
With visions of a circle pit inside of their brains.
And the Wolfe in his booth sat with a grin,
Just waiting and waiting for the fun to begin.

When up on the stage there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my seat to see what was the matter.      
First Capital 7 and then Patent Pending,
An aural assault to my ears they were sending!

Tsunami was Rising and the Sun then was Raced,
The No BS! Brass band then was showcased,
Then, what to my wondering ears should appear,      
But a brave little ska band, and the crowd did all cheer...

It's Skalidays time again!  As I sat and watched the crowd I saw a girl hula hooping, bringing tones of the Chipmunks to mind.  Stage diving!  Stripping Santas!  I can practically hear Yakov Smirnov in my head saying, “What a country!”  It's easy to get lost in the revelry of it all and forget just how it all began.

It all started eleven years ago with a band...that was not Murphy's Kids!  According to Murphy's Kids guitarist Reid Attaway, “A band named Bankshot came up with the idea to do a holiday show.  The first year wasn't a benefit; it was just a really fun show that me, John, and the other guys in the band at the time went to and had a really good time at...they asked us to open.”  When next year rolled around, even though Bankshot had bid the music world a fond fare well, Murphy's Kids decided to carry on the tradition...and a little more.  Reid continues, “At the time we were awful, we were terrible, and we weren't putting any good out into the world, and we decided we should not squander the opportunity to put some good out into the world...Around the holiday season in particular, there's so many small organizations that could really really use, like, 200 and 300 bucks...'Let's give a battered women's shelter here in town 300 dollars,' and we did the show.”

Skalidays has progressed through a few different venues.  Murphy's Kids vocalist John Charlet gave me the lowdown.  “This is our first year at the Canal Club.  It started at Twisters on Grace Street...and it eventually got too big for that, so we moved it to Alley Katz, and now it's too big for that.”  Every year it just grows and grows as more people come out to give and just have a good time while they're doing it.

Like good old St. Nick checking his list, each year the band carefully selects a local charity.  Charlet explains, “As far as the charity goes, the only criteria that we have is that they have to be local, and they have to be such that their budget would be affected at least somewhat by our contribution.”  In reference to this year's recipient John continues, “Art 180 does outreach throughout the community in Richmond through art and music; they do, like, rock and roll summer camps.”  Attaway adds, “These are really good people who are doing really good work.”

Another tough decision is selecting just who to play the show, and there is no shortage of willing participants.  According to Joe Ragosta of Patent Pending, “Every year that this happens it's just this amazing, amazing gathering of so many friends that you don't see all year, and then everyone just shows up, no questions asked, and it's always out of control, and I feel like every year it gets bigger, and every year Murphy's Kids puts more and more and more and more and more and more and more effort into the project, and it's always for such a good cause, and you couldn't ask for a better show to play on planet earth.”  This year's lineup includes No BS! Brass, Tsunami Rising, Race the Sun, Capital 7, Patent Pending, and, of course, Murphy’s Kids.  Murphy's Kids' own Daniel Attaway is excited by the lineup.  “I'm looking forward to Patent Pending and Tsunami [Rising]...I haven't seen Race the Sun for maybe five years, so that'll be a treat.”  Race the Sun is appearing as a reunion performance.

Always eventful, last year's show was postponed due to snow.  When the show did go on a few days later at Alley Katz, it definitely lived up to the over the top expectation.  Reid recalls, “Last year we dropped John down through the ceiling on the third floor, so he put on climbing gear, like a rope and a harness, and we hoisted him down from the third floor.  The band started playing a song, and he lowered down into the crowd.”  John confirms, “I repelled in from the ceiling.”  Ragosta states, “There's always, like, confetti and balloons and stuff like that; that's always fun to watch.”  This year Daniel Attaway added his own touch to the festivities - balloons to be dropped from the ceiling at a predetermined point during the Murphy's Kids set.  “I hope it works!...It was my idea.  I hung most of the things.  John helped me out.”

Capital 7 laid down their smooth reggae rock, and the onsies-clad Patent Pending sent their infectious pop punk out in waves of holiday cheer; the crowd reciprocated with stage dives and circle pits.  Tsunami Rising kept it all going with irie beats and crowd pleasing chops.  Race the Sun's reunion was high energy, their singer (dressed in Santa attire) catapulting himself into the crowd, evoking that old MTV commercial with Santa slam-dancing.  The night continued with No BS! Brass band and their big ass sound, featuring a cover of Michael Jackson's "Thriller."  Murphy’s Kids closed the night with guest trumpet player, Rob Quallich.  The deluge of balloons from the ceiling went without a hitch.  Highlights included the ever imitable "Size It Up" dance-along, a blast from the past with "The Beast", and the big ender "Sledgehammer." 

All in all, it was an awesome end to an awesomer night.  You can feel the love in this place, and for all the right reasons (and NOT because you just backed up into some dude's package).  “Two years ago, we got to the point where we donated, like, te n thousand dollars...”  I'm sure that John and the guys will be donating many thousands more in the years to come.

[Notes From the Wolfe: Just to clarify, that is $10,000 collectively over the years...though it would be cool if it was just from a single year...]

So in closing, one more verse from "A Visit from St. Murphy’s (Kids)", by Andrew Carder Wolfe...

Truly I’d never seen a show quite like this,
From reggae to punk rock…such musical bliss!
And so I must say, at the end of the night,
“Happy Skalidays to all, and to all a good-night.”

By Director, Genre Lead, and Editor: Andrew Wolfe

The Wolfe was born to a small litter in the mountains of West Virginia and transplanted to suburban Virginia Beach in the iconic year of 1984.  Left to the public school system, he soon became immersed in the varied subcultures of suburbia. Quickly he became a connoisseur of the rich substrata of disaffected youth in post-Reagan America.  Having to leave corporate tool-hood behind, the Wolfe prowls the silent alleyways in search of the next great spark of local music - the incendiary device that will reignite creativity in a music world gone wrong (apparently in the throes of Bieber Fever).

And other fun facts ...

Age: 33
Place of Birth: Parkersburg, West Virginia
Gender: Raoul Duke
Religion: Gonzo
Likes: Good music.  Drinking.  Smoking.
Dislikes: Ignorance.  People who take themselves too seriously.  People who say "I just wanted to touch bases with you."  It's "base" asshole, not a baseball reference.