Riddim come forward!

What a nice way to spend my Labor Day weekend. The English Beat showed up in town in full force: three guitars, bass, drums, keys, sax. In contrast to the last Beat show I saw, a few years ago, when Dave Wakeling was touring with but a keyboardist (sequencer included), drummer and percussionist, this was the full Beat experience, and it was spectacular.

Predictably, I arrived late. What is it with Portland shows that start at a reasonable time? I have wanted earlier start times for years, but now that I have them I can’t adapt. The irony tastes like blood in my mouth.

They played all the hits - damn near the entire Just Can’t Stop It album, which is one of my all-time favorites, plus a few Specials songs due to the presence of Lynval from the Specials on guitar and vocals. The entire joint was hoppin’, literally. No head nodding in that room. With my newfound dance skills (that’s another post) I bounced around and wore myself out.

After the show we stood on the sidewalk debating our next destination — for it was merely 11:30 PM! — when I spotted Dave Wakeling chatting with a group of fans. Never shy around musicians, I strolled up and shook his hand, and told him that my old band used to cover Save It For Later — and that I had been playing it wrong. Dave kindly informed me that he uses an altered tuning for that song! This led into a mention of the Harmony H-77 that he used to play, and that I used to own (two of ‘em, actually), and he said that Eastwood guitars was reissuing it as his signature model, and… well, you get the picture. Dave Wakeling and I guitar-geeked out together in front of a dozen people! Bliss. Nice bloke, too.

He lives in LA now, so I hope that we’ll see him regularly with the full band.