The Slackers:

The Slackers, a six-piece ska and rock-steady band from New York, premiered a handful of songs Saturday night for a crowd of 55 packed into a Manhattan loft. Dubbed a “secret show,” the sold-out performance paired the group’s in-the-works singles with covers and requests.

Those who bought tickets through Facebook in March weren’t notified of the show’s location until Saturday afternoon. An email gave an address of West 25th Street in the Flatiron district. There a freight elevator lifted a few people at a time to one of the building’s upper floors.

Inside, a camera crew staked out positions to document the show. The space offered a couple of couches in the rear and standing room at the stage, where The Slackers huddled, calm and casual, just before nine o’clock.

The small place ignited as Vic Ruggiero led his band through a half-hour of unheard, uptempo ska rockers, like “Bed Is A Boat” and “Hit Me Kiss Me,” and the rocksteady grooves of “Money” and “Stereo On.” Trombonist Glen Pine wailed lead vocal on “Working Overtime,” while the British Invasion-tinged “Truth At Your Door” sparkled with Ruggiero’s VK-8 Roland organ. Among the new songs was “Go Go Go,” written just two days before. Its tempo change halfway through gave way to a gentle, lullaby refrain of “You can always say you tried.”

“If anybody got any ideas, or hear somethin’ that sucked, let us know,” Ruggiero cracked between songs, adding that he should have handed out index cards with with checkboxes to solicit feedback. He later challenged the room to stump the group with obscure requests. My wife succeeded. When she yelled “Set The Girl Free,” every pair of eyes onstage widened.

"Have we ever played it?" Pine asked out loud. The consensus was they had not, not since recording it in 2005 for Peculiar, and it was too ambitious to attempt in front of the cameras.

They opted for an oldie, “Power,” which saxophonist Dave Hillyard admitted they never perform because of its odd time signature. “We always fuck up the intro,” he said. Drummer Ara Babajian ensured they wouldn’t. “This is a five-count,” he announced, clicking his sticks and leading the group through a flawless rendition.

 The night was like having the band in your living room, right down to the curfew. Before closing with “The Fool,” Hillyard announced there would be no encore. Earlier, though, it was the last new song of the set, the horn-heavy “I Wanna Be A Girl,” that drew the most applause.

 “That’s the one that gets the check,” Ruggiero said with a smile. Secret’s out.