Dance Hall Crashers (often abbreviated to DHC) is an American ska punk band formed in 1989 in Berkeley, California. The original incarnation of the Dance Hall Crashers (named after the Alton Ellis song "Dance Crasher") was formed in 1989 by Matt Freeman and Tim Armstrong, formerly of the seminal Bay Area ska-punk band Operation Ivy, after both musicians expressed an interest in starting a band rooted in more traditional ska and rocksteady than ... See more [+] what they had been playing with Operation Ivy. The first line-up featured Armstrong on vocals and Freeman on bass guitar, as well as drummer Erik Larsen (whom they specifically lured away from a rocksteady band called "The Liquidators"). The band also featured keyboardist Joey Schaaf, vocalist Andrew Champion and guitarist Grant McIntire. The band experimented with various songs and styles until they played their first show at 924 Gilman Street in Berkeley in 1989. Shortly after their debut, however, Freeman and Armstrong left to pursue other interests, mainly another punk-based ska project called Downfall. After numerous membership changes which eventually left only the original drummer Larsen, DHC solidified a line-up with dual vocalists Karina Deniké Schwarz and Elyse Rogers, guitarists Jason Hammon and Jaime McCormick and bassist Joel Wing. Following a period of steady gigging, DHC finally caught a break after being booked at an all-ska Earth Day festival at Berkeley's Greek Theatre in 1990, opening for Bad Manners. That year, the band recorded their debut album for Moon Ska Records, though trouble within the band led to a break-up soon after.
