Revelers rock steady to Skatalites

Pick it up, Bangor.

That’s what Lester “Ska” Sterling, alto sax player for the Skatalites, commanded the crowd to do at the band’s Friday night performance on the Kenduskeag Dance Stage. And they did, with great enjoyment.

The Skatalites, who have been performing in various incarnations for more than 40 years, played both originals and covers for their hour-long set, including well-received ska versions of classics such as the Beatles’ “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” and Roger Miller’s “King of the Road.”

Ska, a musical style that preceded reggae, combined aspects of rhythm and blues, calypso, blues, jazz and African styles when it came out of Jamaica in the 1950s.

It has gone through many mutations over the years, but the Skatalites are the definitive ska band, with the bouncy, loping beat and bright horns remaining the same after decades of music.

And the audience ate it up. Young and old alike could not help but sway their hips and kick up their heels, and the floor was elbow-to-elbow packed.

A group of area teenagers made a big circle and danced very energetically, while parents bounced around with toddlers perched on their shoulders.

Sterling and tenor sax player Cedric Brooks, the unofficial frontmen for the group, danced onstage to massive cheers, while drummer Lloyd Knibbs and keyboard player Ken Stewart held down the distinctive ska rhythm. The band is best known for its instrumentals and played some of its signatures songs, including “Guns of Navarone,” during Friday’s performance.

The band brought out vocalist Doreen Shaffer for a slightly more mellow string of songs, including a cover of Bob Marley’s “Nice Time.”

The sweet island sounds floated through downtown, and just for a second, if you closed your eyes, it was as if Kingston, Jamaica, had come to Bangor, Maine.