The English Beat at the Cabooze, Minneapolis (19 Nov 2017)

After almost forty years, the beat still goes on…

The ageless Dave Wakeling continues to get the ska party going, as evidenced by a packed crowd on a Sunday evening at the Cabooze on Minneapolis’ West Bank, as The English Beat returned to thrill fans old and new.

The evening opened with a local touch, as Umbrella Bed, a Minneapolis ska/2-tone band with full “Horns of Destruction” section, played a full hour set, to help get the crowd worked up for the headliner. 

The band has been around since 1995, with core members Hellrocket (vocals), Mitch Thompson (drums), Al Teagarden (trombone) and French Horn player Eva Washburn still remaining from the original lineup.

Newest album, Rotate (Black Butcher Records) was just released last month, and they were even handing out free CDs of previous album, Go (Mad Butcher Records), to everyone as they exited. 

The English Beat actually featured themselves in a way, as their own intro, as the band played side one of the new record (Here We Go Love, due March 2018 via a PledgeMusic campaign) on the overhead speakers (with side two of the album played as their outro music).

The 115 minute headlining set got off to a brisk start, beginning with their 1980 version of the reggae-flavored ‘Rough Rider’, as Wakeling and hypeman vocalist /toasting King Schascha got the crowd into a celebratory mood right away.  “Sounds fantastic in here!” Wakeling beamed after the opening song.

“It’s never really a party until someone’s ruined a perfectly good Motown song” Wakeling exclaimed as the band, led by keyboardist Kevin Lum, went into their Smokey Robinson and The Miracles cover. Wakeling’s post-Beat band General Public (with Ranking Roger) was represented by a trio of radio hits, ‘Tenderness’, ‘I’ll Take You There’ (from the Threesome soundtrack), and ‘Never You Done That’.

Wakeling’s raspy voice still serves him well, the band is tight and well-rehearsed and ex-Marine Schascha’s animated antics and rapid-fire vocals are the perfect foil, making this current lineup, among its most enjoyable to date. 

“Time to lose some calories, people!” Schascha yelled, taking everyone back to 1982 for hit ‘Save It for Later’ with the crowd bobbing and jumping in time, leading next into the melancholy but touching new song, ‘Never Die’, which we first heard this summer during the band’s slot on Howard Jones’ Retro Futura tour.

“Dis ting is contagious dis evenin’- I hope everybody got their flu shot!” Schascha said, jumping about before 1980’s ‘Best Friend’ with Wakeling teasing drummer Nucci Cantrell for supposedly being nominated as New Orleans’ first female mayor.  Their Andy Williams cover was punctuated by an end Wakeling whistle, continuing it into the upbeat pop of ‘Never You Done That’.

“Two presidents used this song in their campaigns… and they both won”, Wakeling said, not naming any names, but proclaiming it perhaps a good luck charm before launching into their rub-a-dub style version of The Staples Singers classic, ‘I’ll Take You There’.

The party then mixed with some politics for the new ‘How Can You Stand There’ (played for one of the first times live)and the group next  went all the way back to 1979’s ‘Ranking Full Stop’ to keep the party vibe alive, with ‘Mirror in the Bathroom’ then sending things into complete overdrive.  

With people still breathing heavy, the band ended the evening with the mid-tempo ‘Jackpot’, as each band member was introduced then exited to applause, the reward for a highly danceable and entertaining set. 

Forty years on and with brand new music forthcoming, The English Beat can still take us there, with their still-addictive blend of ska, pop, reggae, and post punk 2-tone, the band’s mantra seemingly taken from the lyrics of new song ‘Never Die’- “Just get the best out of life;  I’ll do it for me, I’ll do it for you”.