The Specials were yet
another band that I was introduced to via Simon Reynolds' Rip
It Up and Start Again.
Despite their popularity in the UK, they'd never crossed my radar in
the US-American heartland before
that. With an
unexpectedly strong new album
at #1 in the UK charts, they are apparently back in the spotlight.
This show was originally scheduled for the Columbiahalle, which is
already a decently-sized venue, but it was relocated to a large
sports arena
in Mauerpark.
Artist: The Specials
Venue:
Max-Schmeling-Halle
Location: Berlin,
Germany
Date: 3 April 2019
Opening Act: Swutscher
Setlist:
01. Man at C&A
01. Man at C&A
02. Rat Race
03. Do Nothing
04. Vote for Me
05. Friday Night,
Saturday Morning
06. Embarrassed by You
07. Blank Expression
08. Doesn't Make It
Alright
09. The Lunatics [Fun
Boy Three song]
10. Blam Blam Fever
[The Valentines cover] →
11. A Message to You,
Rudy [Dandy Livingstone cover]
12. Stereotype
13. 10 Commandments
[with Saffiyah Khan]
14. Black Skin Blue
Eyed Boys [The Equals cover]
15. Nite Klub
16. Do the Dog [Rufus
Thomas cover] →
17. Concrete Jungle
18. Monkey Man [Toots &
The Maytals cover]
19. Gangsters
20. Little Bitch
21. Too Much Too Young
First Encore:
22. Breaking Point
23. Ghost Town
Second Encore:
24. Enjoy Yourself
(It's Later Than You Think) [Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra cover]
25. You're Wondering
Now [The Skatalites cover, with Saffiyah Khan]
Despite the advertised
start time of 8pm, German 7-piece Swutscher came on stage 15
minutes early. They brought a bro-heavy attitude and played generic
and sloppy barroom rockabilly and 90s macho-rock. It seemed like the
only reason they were opening for The Specials was because they had a
saxophonist and a lot of members on stage. The vocals were so
distractingly bad that any good elements were completely
overshadowed. They even did a messy version of The Beatles'
"Why Don't We Do It in the Road" in German, but the vocals
were so terribly yelled that I couldn't understand them.
Then the strangest
thing happened: they started playing a motorik beat and went into a
long, psychedelic, pseudo-Krautrock
jam. The song had a totally different groove and feel. It would've
been awesome but for the vocals. They followed that with another long
jam in a more classic rock style done surprisingly well. Why weren't
all the songs like that? The last two songs hardly seemed like the
same band.
The Specials
eventually arrived with eight members: guitarist/vocalist Lynval
Golding, vocalist Terry Hall, bassist Horace Panter, lead guitarist
Steve Cradock, keyboardist
Nikolaj Torp Larsen, drummer
Kenrick Rowe, trombonist
Tim Smart, and trumpeter Pablo
Mendelssohn. Notably absent
were Jerry Dammers (who
has avoided all reunions), Neville
Staple, Roddy Radiation, and
John Bradbury (who
died in 2015). Three original members still in the fold ain't too bad
after forty years.
The
band wasted no time getting down to business. They started with a few
classic tracks and then "Vote for Me" from Encore
(2019), which was given a bit of an extended dub treatment. They
continued in the pattern of mixing early songs with the new ones,
including several covers from both periods. The new album has a new
version of "The Lunatics", originally performed by the
splinter group Fun Boy Three, which was performed quite successfully.
They
even brought out Saffiyah Khan to reprise her role on Encore's
"10 Commandments".
The
Specials have always been quite upfront about their politics, and I
was impressed by how relevant the old songs still are as well as the
quality of the new work. Thankfully, the mix was great and the vocals
were loud and clear, so I could hear almost every word. I was also
impressed by how solid the performance was: if you ignored all of
their socially-conscious lyrics and just focused on the grooves, it
still would've been a great show. Panter's bass was the star, holding
down the beat and carrying much of the musical structure. He was
frequently locked in step with Rowe's drums but yet never felt tied
down.
Most
of the music kept close to the two-tone standard, but there were a
few deviations into some deep and
heady dub jams. In addition to "Vote for Me", "Stereotype"
and "Ghost Town" (introduced with the single word "Brexit")
were given a similar treatment. For these songs (and "10
Commandments"), Hall moved to a rack with some combination of
keyboard, synthesizer, and/or reverb unit.
I
was amused that the band only played songs from their first two
albums, contemporaneous singles, and their new album. Admittedly,
that is their best work, and most of albums in between were either
all covers or recorded with substantially different lineups. But then
why did they perform Dammers' "Little Bitch", one of their
only songs with a conspicuously less progressive
message?
This
show felt like a party. It was high-energy and people were dancing
enthusiastically. (There
was even a crowdsurfer at one point!) The
band played for almost two hours and almost exclusively played
uptempo numbers. It's
always cool when an old band can put out new work that almost matches
their best and then back it up with a successful tour.
[The Specials with protest signs.]
Scores:
Swutscher: C
The Specials: A-
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