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years on, Ranking Roger, resplendent in his dreadlocks, can still get the crowd jumping. Dave Wakeling has been replaced with Rogers son, Ranking Junior and the two put on a great show, running across the stage in opposite directions and synchronised dancing on the spot. I saw them last year at Glastonbury but as ever, its so much better up close and sweaty.

For me though, support act Neville Staples stole the show. The lights dimmed and WARNING, WARNING – NUCLEAR ATTACK! came over the PA and the place went nuts to a brace of Specials songs of the highest quality. Gangsters, Guns of Navarone, Rat Race (Pointing at Lee and Sledge for the ..Youve got a PhD line), Nite Klub, A message to you Rudy and my personal favourite of the night Doesnt Make It Alright. glorious stuff. That debut Specials LP is a work of genius. For my 40th I asked people to send photos of themselves with their favourite LP and I chose this one.

The crowd was a good natured 40-something bunch who all had nostalgia fuelled smiley faces, moshing and skanking with our spectacles in their hands for fear of them flying off into the crowd. There was one horrible bastard in the crowd though who was just at the back of the moshpit viciously pushing and hitting people. He did it a few times to me and Sledge and at first you just dance your way through the crowd to escape but when it happened to me again I managed to accidentally stamp on his ankle which calmed him down a bit.

I never got to see the Specials in their heyday partly because you were either punk/indie or mod/ska back then (daft, as The Specials had first made their name supporting The Clash) and partly because they split up in 81 before I truly got into my gig going stride. I got to see Neville play with the Fun Boy Three at the Hacienda in 83 but it wasnt quite the same.

He finished his set with Ghost Town the track which Damon Albarn said, at 13, captured his imagination: I owe it all to that song. Im still inspired by it and it continues to inform everything I do. What else can you saya top, top evening.

Bob Continue reading →

Songs about working in a Cinema and the sins of love had us impressed. On my own was my favourite.
Our seats were on the front row of the first tier, bang in the middle. When Richard Hawley came on, it was as if he was playing for us. The sound was awesome – he has a fantastic band who obviously enjoyed playing together. Hawley is a great front man who likes to interact with the crowd. After initially chastising us for not being as good a crowd as Belfast he crooned through the cream of his solo back catalogue. Introducing Hotel Room as a song about addiction and I should know gave the song a whole new twist for me. Pre-gig my favourite song was Born under a bad sign (What are you like, youve had a right life! being one of the best opening lines ever) but the twangy guitar on Dark Road stayed with me for days after. An encore of him and Pal Colin on Harmonica topped by the crazed inprov during The Ocean sent us all home on a high. Best gig Ive been to in a long while! Continue reading →

ce.com/sexpatels They did 2 sets, interspersed with a mad set from Captain HotKnives – a man who hates slugs and whos tale of murdering his psychiatrist and stealing his car to get out of Bradford is far too believable http://www.myspace.com/captainhotknives. The guy selling Sex Patels CDs said they have a support slot with the Blockheads in the offing, so a version of Hit me with your rhythm stick was bound to happen! There was a free samosa with each CD too what a bargain and what a great night.
Bob Continue reading →