The Skallions are a Belfast based 8 piece Ska, Reggae powerhouse, bringing bags of energy and stacks of attitude.
The Skallions burst onto the Belfast music scene in late 2017 opening for New York rocksteady legends, The Slackers. The Skallions have wasted no time sprouting and unleashing their unique brand of perfectly balanced fun and mayhem on audiences across Ireland.
2018 was a year full of incredible opportunities allowing The Skallions to rub shoulders with some of the giants of the Ska Reggae scene. They provided support for such bands as Jaya The Cat and the veteran Reggae and Roots DJs, David 'Ram Jam' Rodigan, who later featured ‘Skallion Battalion’ on his BBC Radio 1Xtra show.
After a whirlwind summer The Skallions burst some clouds with two shows on a drizzly Sunday afternoon in Sunflowerfest. The Skallions closed 2018 with The Slackers once again. Accompanying the Brooklyn legends with consecutive support slots in both Dublin and Belfast, The Skallions first gig in the Irish capital went down a storm with fans new and old.
2019 had some epic nights including a show-stealing support slot with 2-Tone originators The Specials at the Open House Festival, Bangor. The year ended well with a sold-out show with the unforgettable King Kong Company and the honour of taking part in the annual Suited & Booted New Year’s Eve show in The Belfast Empire.
With a debut album set for release in March 2020 there is still so much more to come. The band has achieved all this with the old punk ethos of DIY, supporting themselves through hard work and determination.
Fans of Punk, Ska, Rock, and Reggae will not be disappointed with their high octane show-stopping atmosphere. Pure Belfast craic is bursting out off the stage every minute.
The Skallions claim influences from bands such as Bad Manners, The Specials, The Selecter, Toots & the Maytals, and Runnin’ Riot to name a few. This can all be easily heard in these Ska-hallions blistering originals with hard-rocking drums intertwined with pumping bass lines. Tasty melodic keys to move your feet tangled with heavy guitar riffs designed to have any crowd bouncing from start to finish and a horn section set to blow the house down every night. On top of all this, a powerful male and female duo giving stacks ensuring you will be moving your feet all night.
The Skallions are well known for non-stop high-energy live shows that is sure to get any party started. You can expect nothing less from these mad capped moon stompin' miscreants, so get your knees up and skank like a Skallion!