Very rarely do we ever get the chance to see the concert of our dreams. Sure, we may see our favourite band, or a really great show, but honestly... how often can you say with 100% truth that you have just seen the concert of your dreams? Well, folks... I have just seen the concert of my dreams! My two favourite ska bands were here in Chicago and YES they played together! I am talking about no other than Suburban Legends and The Aquabats playing at Metro Chicago on November 22.

I was lucky enough to have three amazing friends who travelled long distances to attend the show with me, because a great show is made even better with great friends! (One of the attendee's was no other than our very own bosslady Manda!) So let's get to it, I know you're ready to hear how the show was...

The Rikters - Normally before a show, I would do my homework and myspace any band that I didn't already know... but a time crunch and school rush left me without time to check into this first band, and I went to the show Rikter-blind.

Now for a show that people are so pumped up for and ready to dance to their favourite bands, the curtain warmers have a tough job: Get the crowd (who are already conserving energy for their dance party) to get into it and dancing around..

Well, Chicago local band The Rikters passed the curtain warming test with flying colours! A three piece band, they put on a show reminiscent of an OK, Go and Manchester Orchestra love-child with catchy songs and raspy vocals (in the good way of course, not the laryngitis way...) All in all, I think I have me a new Chicago local band to stalk!

Suburban Legends - In case you couldn't tell from my constant repping of SL around here, they are indeed my favourite band, and as such are held to enormous standards that just get more and more expectant as time goes on and with every show that I see them play. Luckily for me, Suburban Legends aren't in the business of disappointing me. Each and every time I see them play, they rise to and bust through the high bar that I set and always end up leaving me a bit slack-jawed.

November 22 at Metro was no exception! The six band members burst on stage with grace and flourish, the brass duo and vocalist (Brian Robertson, Luis Beza and Vincent Walker respectively) slid straight into their intro dance, joined by a few diehard fans in the crowd. The dancing continued through the set as the band played fan-favourites and got every rump in the whole place shaking.

The band got everyone repping out Yo Gabba Gabba (a children's television show which Aquabat front-man Christian Jacobs [MC Bat Commander] co-created, writes and directs), pumping our fists in the air and dancing around like nobody's business, and by the time they burst out with a cover of The Little Mermaid's "Under The Sea" there was no turning back for the audience, we were all suckers at the mercy of the Legends... and we wouldn't have had it any other way.

It's funny, when I tell people about Suburban Legends' live show, I generally get funky "are you serious?" looks, or better yet the classic "choreographed dancing went out with the boy bands..." but there is just something that sucks you in to their show, a human need to forget the crap outside the walls of the venue, to let your guard down and live in an easy time where boys hitting disco moves with brass instruments in their hands (with great finesse I may add) is the equivalent to world peace, and high-fives turn strangers into diplomats and thus creates a pseudo-world where oil prices, economy, election races and college finals don't exist, and the only thing that matters is singing your favourite songs at the top of your lungs, and laughing with your friends.

Perhaps I sound a bit melodramatic, perhaps you understand what I mean, or have experienced it first hand, either way there is something to be said about a Suburban Legends show, the joy of a band who genuinely cares that you have the best time possible, and will do anything and everything they can to see to it that you forget your troubles and cares, even for a bit. I can barely wait until they come around, and can only imagine how they'll break the bar again.

The Aquabats - I've been a fan of The Aquabats for quite a long time now. Unfortunately it isn't that often that I get to see them play live, so when the opportunity came around to see this phenomenally epic show, I was all over it! They are another band that I get strange looks for when I try to explain the allure and comedy behind the band to my friends who apparently take things a bit too seriously sometimes. "They fight... battles... on stage?" I never get tired of the look on their face, and then the laughter that comes after a quick YouTube search to show them just how much The Aquabats rule!

The show was (as always) phenomenal. I mean... I knew they would rock it out, as they always do, but they blew my mind! They rocked out crowd-favourites, and the die-hard fans went crazy at the stage antics. They played an insanely interactive show, getting the crowd involved and excited, dancing and singing as hard and loud as we could.

The battles were fantastic, absolutely hilarious and epic, and as I looked across and saw the looks in my friends faces (Who had never seen The Aquabats play before) was almost as awesome as watching the stage. The crowd was the best crowd I've ever been a part of, hundreds of kids all there for one purpose, to get their dance on.

All in all, the show was phenomenal, the best thing I could ask for and lives in my mind as 100% the best concert I've ever attended, and most definitely the concert of my dreams.