In the 90s Citizen Fish, all the way from the UK, somehow thought it was worth their while to make it to South Dakota on a fairly regular basis. I sure hope that it was worth the trek and I am sure glad that they did. Since Citizen Fish was formed from The Subhumans it was pretty awesome to have a great UK punk band with first-wave UK punk pedigree playing small local shows. Last month Citizen Fish and The Subhumans came through New York for several shows this year on a combined tour. I missed most of those shows but caught a Citizen Fish only show at what was one of the very last shows at the Knitting Factory at its Tribeca location. The show was great and featured a horn section to nicely fill out their punk ska sound. Now I am wondering if Citizen Fish had horns when they played the US those years back. If anyone knows please chime in.
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Download: Citizen Fish – Sink or Swim (Live)
You won’t see a lot of ska posts from me on this blog, but I’ve always had a soft spot for Citizen Fish. I think it comes from the fact that they are vegetarian. This song was recorded on their “Wider Than A Postcard” tour in 1993. It was the first time I saw them and the first time they had toured through South Dakota. They were great live and even heeded the endless requests for the song “Flesh and Blood.”
