Almost 40 years in and both The Selecter and The Beat are still rocking stages all over the world, bringing energetic Ska vibes to fans of all ages.

First up is Ranking Roger’s version of The Beat (his former band mate Dave Wakeling fronts a different line up of The Beat based on the US). Roger’s version includes his son Ranking Junior aka Mini Murphy sharing vocals and the make for dynamic front men. The set list is composed of a few new songs, as the band continue to release new material, but it’s the classic tunes that gets this all ages crowd moving. So we get to hear “Mirror In The Bathroom“, “Ranking Full Stop“, “Tears Of A Clown” and the anti fascist anthem “Two Swords“. It’s a fantastic set that goes down a storm.

Co-headliners on this tour, The Selecter are fronted by Pauline Black and Arthur “Gaps” Hendrickson. Like The Beat they continue to release albums so the set is a vibrant mixture of old and new tunes. “The Big Badoof” and “Daylight“, (the title track from their latest album) are poppy Ska numbers in the vein of their older material but it’s the classics like “Three Minute Hero” and “On My Radio” that get the biggest receptions. When they play “Missing Words“, Pauline Black reminds us that the video nwas shot in a phone box on Brighton seafront during the Two Tone tour of 1980 that also included Madness and The Specials.

Both her and Gaps make a great tag team fronting the band. Both still clearly enjoy playing with this vibrant band that also includes Will Crewdson on guitar who also plays with Adam And The Ants as well as fronting his own band Scant Regard.

For the encore The Beat return and both bands perform a rousing rendition of “Too Much Pressure” which morphs into “Train to Skaville” originally recorded by The Ethiopians. All in all a vibrant and energetic set from two bands who know how to rock the crowds.

Peace

The Beat

The Selecter