Save Ferris, best known for their cover of \u201980s classic \u201cCome on Eileen,\u201d are playing at this year\u2019s Ska and Reggae Festival (photo by Fabien Castro).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nIn 2004, the band took a hiatus; by 2013, increased neck and back pain caused Powell to need a risky surgery. Due to a lack of medical insurance, treatment wasn\u2019t possible. After imaging was complete, her condition looked dire; doctors gave her the option of either walking or singing. It wasn\u2019t until she found a doctor who was able to do the surgery from the back of her neck instead of the front that she had the chance to both walk and sing. Going into surgery, she decided that if it was successful, she\u2019d get the band back together; it was the drive she needed to get through recovery.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a really scary, scary time, but bringing the band back gave me something to aspire, something to get well for,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd having a hometown show booked that was sold out, it was a big show, was everything I needed to know; like I\u2019m doing the right thing. People still love Save Ferris and you\u2019re doing the right thing; all this struggle is worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fans are the driving force for Save Ferris; their return to the stage was welcomed with open arms. From a hiatus and a life-altering surgery to headlining Warped Tour and packing out the House of Blues, Save Ferris has had an incredible comeback.<\/p>\n
\u201cSeeing lines of people outside for venues in towns where Save Ferris has maybe made it once in 30 years, like Lawrence, Kansas, was amazing,\u201d says Powell. \u201cLike, Save Ferris maybe played The Bottleneck, you know, in 1998 and so the fact that people are showing up for these shows, that\u2019s definitely a highlight. I\u2019m always surprised. I\u2019m always like, \u2018Oh, you\u2019re willing to buy a ticket. Okay, I\u2019ll do my best.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Touring comes with its challenges. Powell, a self-professed over-packer, warns to not be like her and pack light\u2014seven days of sweat-resistant, easy-to-wash clothes, good deodorant, and body spray. Most importantly, Powell advises musicians to know why they are making music.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t give up, you know, establish early on why you\u2019re doing what you\u2019re doing, because all the guys that I played with that picked up a guitar to meet chicks are no longer playing music,\u201d she says. \u201cBut when your motivations are in the right place, you know you do it because you love it. It\u2019s a difficult journey, but it\u2019s the love that gets you through.\u201d<\/p>\n
Save Ferris
\n8 pm Friday, June 20
\n$65, Victoria Curling Club
\nsaveferris.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Save Ferris is bringing their ska-infused punk to The Victoria Ska and Reggae Festival this year to celebrate their 30th anniversary. Hailing from Orange County, California, the band is probably best known for a song that\u2019s not their own; vocalist Monique Powell says their breakout cover of Dexys Midnight Runners\u2019 \u201cCome on Eileen\u201d is reminiscent […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27007,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,333],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts","category-june-4-2025"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26992"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26992\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26994,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26992\/revisions\/26994"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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