We saw The English Beat at Underground Arts in Philadelphia. Terrible pictures follow.
We listened to the English Beat all those years ago in art school but we’ve never seen them before. Wish we had in 1981!
Ska is fun, no getting around it. A song about fighting: fun. A song about self-obsession: fun. A anthem calling for your prime minister to step down: fun. A song about mutual selfishness: fun. A song about me ruining three lives, but I didn’t care til I found out that one of them was mine: fun.
And best live. Everybody was dancing.
There’s something about ska which creates a spirit of solidarity. Twice, big guys tried to push their way to the front and center but everyone held their ground, and told them firmly to go back the way they came. They did, and one of them came back and apologized. My fellow crowd mates weren’t just repelling for their own spot; they were defending our mutual space. Solidarity becomes camaraderie.
Dave Wakeling was charming, funny and real. At the end, he shook hands with everyone he could reach, all across the stage.
Also, it was nice not be the old person in the crowd.
Messages from the Mythical 
How very fun indeed! The pics are not bad either.
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I love the English Beat.
Was the real Rankin’ Roger there?
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No, technically it was “The English Beat starring Dave Wakeling.” I tried to catch the name of the fellow in Roger’s place, who was great, but I’ve been unable to find out the names of this lineup. Most of them were too young to have been originals.
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Desdi, have you ever seen them?
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I was really impressed with the Specials live performances in recent years (only on YouTube) and the lineup was sometimes all of the original players. I also enjoyed reading Pauline Black’s autobio a while back. Have you read it?
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/jul/30/pauline-black-the-selecter-adoption-memoir
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No I haven’t. I’ll try to look for it.
I would love to see the Specials. They are touring, but not here. I did play their first album to death!
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What fun!
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It was loads of fun! Looks like you’re having a great time too!
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Actually we are back now, and back to he grind sadly. I just didn’t get to post all the stuff I wanted to when I was there. So, I will be posting for a bit more LOL.
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Sorry–I have been to busy to keep up! I’m glad you’re back and that it was a good experience.
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Ha..not a problem, and I understand completely. Sadly I have not read most blogs I read for almost two weeks now.
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