Show Pics: The English Beat @ The Mohawk (1/18)

Being the old guy around here has its advantages. And when I say I remember the classics, it means bands before Vampire Weekend.

One such band that everyone knows because of movie soundtracks (Grosse Point Blank, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, SLC Punk!, Weird Science) and numerous spin-offs and side projects (because of band disagreements), is The English Beat. The American touring version is Dave Wakeling’s band of solid musicians; Dave shares The English Beat name with Rankin Roger who tends to stay across the pond.

Locals The Inverters got to open. A few words and plenty of pics follow.

The Mohawk promoted the show as having a “super tight, milfy, dancey” vibe.

The Inverters brought Ska to life: proper hats, suits, great shoes, plenty of horns, interaction, genuine appreciation for the crowd and crew. Available for parties (I hope).

Bands like to walk in to their jams, picking songs to get the crowd a bit frenzied. Dave’s peeps picked The Specials and some Madness to get every milf feeling nostalgic, but dancing. When the band emerged, Dave gravelly greeted Austin and tore right into “Rough Rider”. The set list that followed included covers like “Tears of a Clown” and “I’ll Take You There” and all the hits like “I Confess”, “Save It For Later”, “Tenderness” and of course “Mirror in the Bathroom”. We danced, we sang along. His voice still sounded great. Of course, it helps his vocal as recorded was never complex to start with. Banter included comments about the past with clever lead-ins to announce the songs and busting balls about the gal that was recording the show on a little camera while singing along. It was a bit disconcerting that Dave’s speaking voice and accent sounds like Bricktop’s. O_o

Shout! Factory released The Complete Beat last summer.

More pics at the photo site…