GIG REVIEW: The Specials, O2 City Hall, Newcastle,
Monday, 20 September 2021
Back in April 2009, I was one of the lucky 2,000 packed into the O2 Academy across the city for the opening night of The Specials’ 30th anniversary tour.
As gigs go, it was one of the best I’ve ever been to, a real ‘I was there’ evening as fans flocked from far and wide for the long-awaited reunion.
A lot of water has passed under the bridge since, including the six original members who took part being whittled down to three.
Co-vocalist Neville Staple now plays Specials and ska classics with his own band, guitarist Roddy Radiation fronts The Skabilly Rebels, while drummer John Bradbury sadly passed away in 2015.
Founding member Jerry Dammers, of course, declined to take part in the reunion, and continues to DJ and play with his own band, The Spatial AKA Orchestra.
His place at the keyboards was taken then, as now, by Danish musician Nikolaj Torp-Larsen. But none of these twists and turns stopped them having an unexpected No 1 album – the first of their career – with Encore, in 2019.
Protest Songs
So while just three core members remain – frontman Terry Hall, bassist Horace Panter and rhythm guitarist/vocalist Lynval Golding – the spirit of The Specials and everything they stand for remains strong.
As the promotional blurb for forthcoming album Protest Songs 1924-2012 makes clear, The Specials still care, are still protesting and still pissed off!
Hall – a man famous for his taciturn persona – ambled onstage looking like he had just got up, hair bedraggled and creased shirt untucked. But boy, can he sing.
By contrast, Golding – sporting a pork pie hat and the brightest striped jacket you’ll ever see – looked quite the dandy as he danced with young singer-songwriter Hannah Hu, who guests on the new record and sang backing vocals here.
Rock solid
Meanwhile, Panter on bass and PJ Harvey/Jazz Jamaica drummer Kenrick Rowe laid down the rock-solid rhythm on which The Specials’ generation-spanning sound is based.
They always liked a carefully-reworked cover version; their self-titled debut contained half a dozen. The new album, inspired more than ever by injustice and inequality, consists entirely of them.
We heard a few tonight, including opener Freedom Highway (originally by the Staple Singers). All were well-received, and augur well for the album, which is out on 24 September.
Bob Marley’s classic rebel song Get Up, Stand Up, performed in stripped-down form by just Golding and guitarist Steve Cradock (Ocean Colour Scene, Paul Weller), produced the first big singalong of the night as the band eased their way into the set, rather than smashing their way in.
More Specials
The first half was front-loaded with songs from 1980’s More Specials album: Do Nothing, Friday Night, Saturday Morning, International Jetset, Man At C&A and Stereotype all getting an airing.
It was songs from the first album that fans really wanted to hear though. Rat Race was tossed in as an early morsel to keep them happy, but Doesn’t Make It Alright, midway through, lifted the show and really got the crowd moving.
From then on they were eating out of the palm of their hands; A Message To You, Rudy, Nite Klub, Too Much Too Young, Gangsters and Monkey Man got the place fairly bouncing.
We weren’t done yet: a three-song encore kicked off with Talking Heads’ Listening Wind and ended with You’re Wondering Now, with the still-powerful Ghost Town sandwiched in-between.
The Specials might be 40+ years into their career, but the fact Britain is suffering again under Tory rule, just as it was in their heyday, means they’re just as relevant.
