The English Beat Celebrates 30 Years
Last year marked the 30-year anniversary of The English Beat, a ska band from Birmingham, England headed by Dave Wakeling. Originally, they were The Beat, but another band in the states had that name, so they added the “English”. Remind anyone of Spinal Tap?
Ska is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and became very popular with British Mods of the early 60’s. This time period was considered Ska’s first wave.
The second wave, or the two-tone era, started in the late seventies in England with bands like The Specials, The Beat, The Selector, Madness and others.
Today we have Reel Big Fish, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and many more who make up ska’s third wave.
Well, on July 8th in Hampton, NH the second and third wave met when The Beat backed up Reel Big Fish at The Hampton Beach Casino. What a show! The Beat were on fire and the young crowd really got into it. Sometimes back up bands don’t get much respect, however, this was not the case at this show. Check out the video I shot on my iPhone and I think you will agree the crowd loved them. At one point during “Save It For Later”, I thought the floor might collapse and we would end up downstairs in the arcade. I have seen The Beat a few times lately, and this was their best performance.
Now, I admit I was there to see The Beat, but most of the crowd was there for Reel Big Fish, and they were not disappointed. They put on a great high-energy show, complete with crowd surfing and a mosh pit. A good time was had by all.
Check out The Beat on iTunes. Lots of great songs that have stood the test of time.
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