English Beat in DC

I saw the English Beat last night at the 'legendary' 930 club*. It had been almost six years since I last saw them, so I thought I would check them out. Same minor complaint that I had last time, a little too reggaefied. They have a new album coming out so I got to hear a couple of new songs. A better title for the show should have been the 'Dave Wakeling Music and Comedy Revue', watching Wakeling and King Schascha (the Ranking Roger substitute) make jokes was reminiscent of the old variety TV shows back in the `70s. Some examples:

Wakeling commenting on the current political climate "I always thought you guys were pretty great, but now you're fucking great!"

On 'Sole Salvation' "I used to say that I based that song on a book I read about democracy but I really wrote so I could say asshole on TV. You know -- 'a sole salvation'"

after someone yelled out for 'Mirror in the Bathroom' "We're not going to play that now, it's not the next one on the record. That's how we tour, the record plays and we just stand up and mime along. That's how the biz works."

Schascha during on the times Wakeling was changing guitars "Can I say something really quick, right now?" He then toasted incredibly fast. Afterwards Wakeling said if you could write everything down that he said you would win a trip on an overnight bus ride to Brooklyn (where they were playing the next night).

Those plus bits about Andy Williams haunting the place, how Hillary Clinton stole his way of pretending to interact with the crowd. Yeah, a fun and relaxed time. And the entire band hung out afterwards - personable guys.

Set list:
Rough Rider
The Tears of a Clown
Hands Off...She's Mine / Children of the Moon Tide
Twist & Crawl
Rude Boy Skank
I'll Take You There
Save It for Later
Said We Would Never Die (new song)
Whine & Grine/Stand Down Margaret
Too Nice to Talk To
Can't Get Used to Losing You
Sole Salvation
Tenderness
Doors of Your Heart
The Love You Give Lasts Forever (new song)
Ranking Full Stop / Mirror in the Bathroom
Jackpot

* to me, the legendary 930 club was the original one before it moved in 1996. This one is just big.

Pretty much the show I got a few years ago, minus the comedic banter. He did his own toasting. Dude's really been living on the road in recent years, eh?

Hey, man.Ihave to work, too!



Former TP subscriber [81, 82, 83, 84]

[postpunkmonk.com]
For further rumination on the Fresh New Sound of Yesterday®

Hmmm, two new songs in this setlist, as opposed to the one new song they played when I saw Wakeling and the boys ... 15 months ago. Is it my imagination, or are they really taking their time with this new album?

Wakeling is taking forever to deliver this album (this is a crowdfunded record and fans put up their money for it over two years ago).

There is a long and very angry thread on The Specials' fan site about it that dates back to June 2014 and makes for a good read: http://www.thespecials2.com/community/viewtopic.php?t=23423.

Interesting on the album notes. I read a recent interview with Wakeling and he said that the album was all done but the record company wanted all the different formats (CD, Vinyl, downloads) to be ready at the same time. At the show, when Wakeling introduced 'Never Die', he said that they had been recording for the last three weeks! The name of the album is "Here We Go Love" and that is what they have named the tour so maybe, just maybe it will be here by the summer. Just in time for the Retro Futura festival they are going to be a part of.

I just looked that up, curious as to who was on it. One of the bands is Modern English, who have a new record coming out (already out?) called Take Me to the Trees. I listened to it this morning. Not bad, though I have no idea how it compares to the rest of the band's catalog. I listened to something beyond "I Melt With You" for the first time just a couple of days ago - "Melt"'s album After the Snow. Much...artier than I expected. "Melt" is an anomaly, at least on that record.