The English Beat!!!
dharma69
Posts: 1,275
It's only February 2007 and it's already been a great gig year: My Morning Jacket (2x), stellastarr* (2x), Cold War Kids (2x) and still more great stuff to come. So I suppose that I'm showing my age touting that I just spent a quality evening getting grooved by one of the original Ska/Reggae/Punk bands that really set a tone for the 80's: The English Beat!!!
Yes, they're back touring with a line-up that, from what I can tell, consists of only one original member...who happens to be the most inportant one: Dave Wakeling, the lead singer and songwriter. Great songwriter.
It doesn't really matter if he's the only one; the band was tight and lively, Dave was in excellent voice, chatty and seemingly glad to have us around on a Saturday night (he sounds just like he did in 1982) and the crowd loved it. The show began with "Stand Down Margaret" which Dave joked that some wished that he would change the lyric to "Stand Down Tony" but he said that he just couldn't, they jammed through all of the songs that made you like and remember them: Hands Off, She's Mine, Sole Salvation, Ackee 1,2,3, I Confess, Rough Rider, according to Dave it's not a party until someone properly butchers a Smokey Robinson song which led to "Tears Of A Clown", and on it went.
Then there was the smooth as silk transition from "Ranking Full Stop" to "Mirror In The Bathroom"...smooth as fucking silk. And I don't think I have to tell you that the audience adored it! During the show there were two episodes of "Girls Gone Wild" as the fairer sex was encouraged to join the band onstage for some "interpretive dancing".
And in the spirit of fair play a few chords from a faintly familiar tune caught my ear...something about "she lies and says she's in love with him..."
Which led into a full and bouncy version of "Save It For Later". That was saucy right there.
Good times, folks. Check out their Tour Dates Page....perhaps they'll be coming to see you soon!
In the meantime, here's a little of what I saw: The English Beat
Yes, they're back touring with a line-up that, from what I can tell, consists of only one original member...who happens to be the most inportant one: Dave Wakeling, the lead singer and songwriter. Great songwriter.
It doesn't really matter if he's the only one; the band was tight and lively, Dave was in excellent voice, chatty and seemingly glad to have us around on a Saturday night (he sounds just like he did in 1982) and the crowd loved it. The show began with "Stand Down Margaret" which Dave joked that some wished that he would change the lyric to "Stand Down Tony" but he said that he just couldn't, they jammed through all of the songs that made you like and remember them: Hands Off, She's Mine, Sole Salvation, Ackee 1,2,3, I Confess, Rough Rider, according to Dave it's not a party until someone properly butchers a Smokey Robinson song which led to "Tears Of A Clown", and on it went.
Then there was the smooth as silk transition from "Ranking Full Stop" to "Mirror In The Bathroom"...smooth as fucking silk. And I don't think I have to tell you that the audience adored it! During the show there were two episodes of "Girls Gone Wild" as the fairer sex was encouraged to join the band onstage for some "interpretive dancing".
And in the spirit of fair play a few chords from a faintly familiar tune caught my ear...something about "she lies and says she's in love with him..."
Which led into a full and bouncy version of "Save It For Later". That was saucy right there.
Good times, folks. Check out their Tour Dates Page....perhaps they'll be coming to see you soon!
In the meantime, here's a little of what I saw: The English Beat
"I'm here to see Pearl Jam."- Bono
...signed...the token black Pearl Jam fan.
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...signed...the token black Pearl Jam fan.
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