Rude City Riot made their performance debut in March, 2008 at Dan Cowan’s inaugural “Ska-AThon” a longside Canada's top ska talents, including SkaBoom and Los Furios. Two and a half years later RCR is about to release their first full length LP on Stomp Records on May 31, 2011.
Though the members of Rude City Riot have differing musical pedegrees, they all have a strong reverence for the mighty ska tradition and share the influences of punk, reggae and soul. RCR's sound is described by their fans as "Power-Ska". (Start with Ska Music and add equal parts Rock, Punk, Reggae and Soul and you get Power-Ska as delivered by Rude City Riot).
This combination of talent and personality has equipped the band to ably rise to the challenge of creating terrific and unforgetable music in this great genre. Rude City Riot is: Dustin Lionheart III (vocals) Scott Atkins (guitar) Luis Garzon (Bass) Jonny MacCormack (saxophone) Kevin Tang (trombone) Sean Kight (drums) Steffen Peter (Guitar) Peter Bowles (Keyboards / Percussion)
"This is seriously infectious stuff. It opens with a solid acoustic guitar ska groove and a power vocal going on about feeling ill, which conveniently rhymes with "pills". When the band kicks in they're as tight as a screw. And look out for that sax solo. iPod worthy."
- John McLaughlin, The Province Newspaper - review of Rude City Riot song "Shots & Pills" (Mar 23, 2010)
"Rude City Riot are one of the newest ska bands to grace the North American music scene, yet their recently recorded EP shows all the signs of a tight-knit group of musicians who simply gel together, even though they come from varying musical backgrounds." -Craig, SkaSource.com
Visit the band's official website at WWW.RUDECITYRIOT.COM to read the latest press and media reviews on RCR's debut self titled CD / EP. Two new singles on Skaspot Records were released in late May 2010.
In two quick years Rude City Riot has been invited to perform at the following festivals:
Shambhala, The Big Easy, Sled Island, Canadian Music Week Fest, The Florida Music Festival, The Pitter Patter Festival, Winnipeg, Seattle and Victoria Ska Festivals. REVFEST 2010 and the Nakusp Music Festival. RCR has opened for Ska legends the English Beat (2) and the Slackers and recently headlined popular clubs in Windsor, Toronto and Montreal.