Photo by Blaine Schultz
English Beat at Turner Hall April 10, 2022
The English Beat at Turner Hall
Near the end of Sunday’s English Beat show at Turner Hall, singer Dave Wakeling pointed the fans that had been cooling the band onstage, toward the audience. It was a fitting gesture from a guy who spent the evening testifying on the virtues of peace, love and unity. It was also a welcome breeze for fans who had been moving non-stop since the opening number.
Currently known as The Beat Starring Dave Wakeling, the latest incarnation of the second-generation Ska group came to town for more dancing than should be legal on a Sunday night. With a multi-generational audience made of old-school 2 Tone fans, Celtic musicians and anyone looking to get an aerobic workout, the group kept momentum going with blasts “Twist and Crawl,” “Can't Get Used to Losing You” and the one-two punch of “Ranking Full Stop” and “Mirror in the Bathroom.”
Formed in the late ‘70s in Birmingham, England, as the Beat (they became The English Beat to avoid confusion with Paul Collins’ California power pop combo), Wakeling shared the spotlight with toaster Antonee First Class and directed the group with James Brown-like precision, giving hand signals behind his back to the musicians.
The singer apologized for British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s “12 damn years in office” when the band raged through “Stand Down Margaret,” while “Save It for Later” had the crowd pogo-ing like it was 1982 again. Playing his familiar left-handed teardrop-shaped guitar Wakeling also touched on the band’s evolution as General Public with the hit “Tenderness.”
Highball Holiday made a welcome return home as openers. Shahanna McKinney Baldon fronted the group for an all-to brief set that nonetheless set the evening course perfectly.
