RUUUUDE BOY, RUUUUUDE BOY bellow the crowd in anticipation of the arrival of their ska heroes as sweat drips off the ridiculously high ceilings in the grand old venue that is the criminally underused Olympia. Although the place is rough around the edges it is perfectly suited for mid-sized gigs such as this and its depleted exterior and interior make it the perfect place for social commentators THE SPECIALS.
There isn’t a support act tonight, but that’s not important as the DJ gets the place in the mood pumping out ska classics from Althea & Donna and Toots & The Maytals. The Specials hit the stage bang on 9.30pm and the opening tribal drum beat signals the introduction of ‘Concrete Jungle’. Going hand in hand with the beat is a collective audience bounce as plastic pint pots go flying and 50 year old bald men in braces completely lose themselves.
The visuals on stage are totally stripped down. No back drop or exuberant light shows, just the band on stage doing their thing. Standing towards the back is quite a sight as you witness the place collectively jump and sing along with every lyric. The Specials were formed in 1977 and made many a political statement along the way. It’s a shame that 36 years on, the lyrics still carry some meaning.
Terry Hall manages to live up to his moody reputation by spitting on the floor and he grumbles down the mic about a dodgy stand. Once that minor discretion is out the way, Manchester United fan Hall turns his attention to Liverpool fans “No joy with the top 4 this year”
Although there is no Jerry Dammers and there is no Neville Staple alongside the grump fest that is Terry Hall you do still have Lynval Golding who is still showing as much passion and desire as he did back in the day. “Liverpool are you ready to skank” he questions as he takes the lead to play ‘Monkey Man’.
Also still playing is Horace Panter on bass who keeps to his side of the stage and looks like he’s loving every minute during ‘Rat Race’. Not as much as Nik Torp on the keyboards is though, who looks like he’s having the time of his life jumping and dancing about the stage whilst remarkably still being able to play in time. He grasps his moment to shine on ‘Ghost Town’ which still sounds almost perfect to this day.
The classics keep coming as ‘Stereotype’ and ‘Do Nothing’ keep the floor bouncing before a brilliant rendition of Message to You Rudy brings the set to an end.
After a prolonged absence makes the crowd wonder whether or not they’ll actually do an encore Hall and Golding return solo initially and launch into ‘Doesn’t Make it Alright’ which gets a passionate sing along and seems to strike a chord with the multi-cultural crowd.
After a topical Maggie’s Farm Golding tells us that this is the best he’s ever heard this band play together before going into encore closer Enjoy ‘Yourself’ which unites everyone. Hall brings the curtain down with a typical mumble “I’ve left the gas on so we better go”. A brilliant night’s entertainment which showed the Specials are still as relevant today as they were all those years ago.
