Ska Benefit Tour Strikes Conscientious Chord

“Third Wave” ska music, the American variety that has succeeded (and commercially eclipsed) previous waves from Jamaica and England has been criticized for concerning itself with nothing but good times set to a skippity beat.

The Ska Against Racism Tour, arriving April 4 at Oak Canyon Ranch in Santiago Canyon, aims to put contemporary ska in a different light.

Less Than Jake and the Toasters will lead the eight-band touring caravan, which was conceived by Mike Park, former lead singer of the San Jose-based ska band Skankin’ Pickle. Park now fronts his own band and runs a record company called Asian Man.

“They’re trying to rejuvenate 2-Tone’s original message,” said tour spokesman James Abejo. The English ska movement 2-Tone included such influential bands as the Specials, the Selecter and the English Beat, all of which emphasized anti-racist themes and had racially integrated lineups. “Ska’s a big buzzword now, the kids really love it, but [the tour’s organizers] want to get back to the roots of the thing.”

Each band will donate a share of its tour earnings to an organization that fights racism, sexism or homophobia; the festival-style event will feature speakers and information booths from organizations that fight bigotry, including Artists for a Hate-Free America, Anti-Racist Action and the Museum of Tolerance.

Ninety-Eight Posse, the local promoter, is turning the event into one of its patented multiple-stage festivals, promising a total of 35 bands, including many local ska acts. Tickets go on sale Feb. 21.

HEARTFUL DESIGN: Walter Trout’s music has a lot of heart. Today, in a Valentine’s Day special, Trout’s music is a heart.

The Huntington Beach-based blues-rocker and his band will play at 2 p.m. at the Virgin Megastore in Costa Mesa. Trout will give away heart-shaped, two-song CDs as a bonus to anybody who buys a regular, round copy of his new album, “Walter Trout.” Ruf Records printed a bunch of the promo CDs for radio stations, hoping to pique programmers’ interest in the single “Tender Heart.” The second cut on the heart-shaped CD is “Got a Broken Heart.”

Trout cautions that the heart-shaped plastic works only on players where the disc fits in a tray. It might get stuck in car stereos that suck the CD in.

Trout also plays Feb. 21-22 at the Roxy in West Hollywood, opening for Gregg Allman in what he hopes will turn into a steady opening-act slot on Allman’s national tour.

GET THE PUNK OUT: The Clipper in Long Beach will host a 10-hour punk rock bash Feb. 21, bidding a slamming farewell to one of the steadier, longer-running series of grass-roots punk concerts the local rock scene has seen.

The club recently changed ownership, and new management wants to try blues and swing instead of punk on weekends, said David James of Outsider Entertainment, which has staged far more than 100 punk shows at the Clipper since January 1997.

Rather than look for a new venue, James and his partner, Dave Salinger, will concentrate on developing Outsider Records, the label that grew out of their grass-roots promoting efforts during the past 3 1/2 years.

“We always were kind of moving in this direction,” James said.

So far, Outsider Records has issued just three vinyl singles, by the U.S. Bombs, Bonecrusher and Damnation. In the works is the label’s first full-length CD, a compilation featuring many of the Southern California and national bands that have played the Clipper over the past year. Outsider may still promote occasional shows, James said, but it hasn’t looked for a venue yet. He said he would want to put on bigger concerts than the Clipper’s 167-person capacity allowed.

The farewell bash, dubbed Drunk Fest 98, starts at 3 p.m. and ends past midnight. The bands, in reverse order of appearance, are the Humpers, U.S. Bombs, Bonecrusher, Damnation, the ADZ, the Decline, X-It, Stress Factor, Snap-Her and the Spitfires. The Clipper is at 3325 Anaheim Blvd. (562) 597-0014. Admission: $9; $6 before 7 p.m.

LOST ITS FLAVOR: In the rock ‘n’ roll equivalent of a bankruptcy-forced liquidation, the Flavor has gone out of business and is selling its stock of flavorful CDs at a deep, deep discount.

“The Flavor,” from 1996, showed great promise with its innocent takes on young romance and its sharp ‘80s Anglophile influences. But the Orange County band broke up a few months ago and is unloading its remaining cache of CDs for a $2 postage and handling charge. Fans of Barenaked Ladies, the Go-Betweens and other not-too-loud, mainly melodic, sort of jangly alterna-rock bands might want to take up the offer. Send a check to Martin Borsanyi, c/o the Flavor, P.O. Box 8451, Newport Beach, CA 92658.