Monday/s band practice was a downer for Tony Farah.
The bass player couldn/t believe it might be Chupaskabra/s last time playing in the living room they use to rehearse for shows, he said.
The local ska band will perform a free concert alongside The Duppies at Bo Diddley Community Plaza Friday. The concert will be the group/s last for a while, band members said.
"We just need a break from it, I guess," trumpet player Blaine Garvin said. "We/ve been playing the same stuff for two and a half years."
However, the seven-piece band/s decision isn/t unanimous. Some of the members feel they could easily continue Chupaskabra, Farah said.
When Chupaskabra churned out its happy-go-lucky, horn-backed rendition of pop-punk at Free Fridays last year, the group attracted an audience of about 400.
David Ballard, the plaza events coordinator, said attendance at Free Fridays has gone up significantly this year, continuing a trend.
Both Ballard and the band agree it/s the family friendly atmosphere that attracts the large, diverse crowd, encouraged by an alcohol-free environment.
"It/s cool because you see people there that you would never normally see at shows," tenor saxophone player Neil Soule said.
Members of Chupaskabra, all students at either UF or Santa Fe College, grew up in Gainesville and created the band in high school.
They knew they made it big when they opened for The Know How, another local ska band, at the 1982 venue in 2006. It was their first show.
"I think we owe a lot of our success to that first show because there was such a large audience to see The Know How," Farah said.
But it wasn/t just the luck of a first show that/s lasted them through a successful few years.
Their appreciation for music and classical training inspired them to offer a show with raw talent and fun music. The band members agreed to stay away from fog machines and colored lights.
"We/re all about the music," Garvin said.
