LIVE SHOW REVIEW
The English Beat. An iconic second-wave ska band from England founded back in 1978. It doesn't seem long ago to me, I mean, if you were born before 1990, you might remember recording some of their tracks from the radio to your cassette player. In the US, we mostly heard "Save it for Later" and "Mirror in the Bathroom," but there were other tracks well-worth listening to, like my fav, "Twist and Crawl."

The English Beat was coming to my town. I bought tickets, and headed down to the Showbox, one of Seattle's best venues, for the show. Drinks at show venues are expensive, so like every good urbanite, we stopped for drinks prior to the show at the Nitelite.

The Nitelite is a dive. Think, ripped vinyl booths, cheap food, stiff drinks, and a smell like someone smoked a pack of mom's cigarettes then puked. It aint pretty, but I love it. Drinks there run around $6 for a double, when at the Show it would regularly cost $12. Anyway, prefunking is essential in this economy.

After we had a nice buzz on, and after the divey Nitelite, the Showbox seemed glittery and packed full of people. The crowd was a mix of ska lovers who had retired to the suburbs, younger kids who were into ska, and old punks like me who still haven't given up the ghost.

The opener for English Beat made me want to puke. Oh my god, he sounded just like Jack Johnson's shitty ballads. BLECH! I hate that shit. I know it's influenced by ska, but it fucking sucks. Dude, was this concert sponsored by The Mountain? That music makes people feel old, or makes them die a slow death in a La-z-boy Chair. I would rather pluck my left eyeball out than listen to that. Sorry, kids.

English Beat finally came on, after that shitty Mountain guy finished. It was a great show, they played "Mirror in the Bathroom," and "Whine and Grind," and "Twist and Crawl." This version of the English Beat (there are two), was lead by Dave Wakeling. He puts on a great show, but I can't help but think how much nicer it would be to see them with the whole band united. There's something missing without Ranking Roger, who heads the UK version of the band. I had a fucking great time, though, and my girlfriend didn't punch any jackasses. That was nice.