A dance explosion started with "Do the Dog" which picked the crowd up ready for the dancefest, however as the night drew on I did feel that the 7 men on stage looked extremely tired and I would have liked to see them fresh at the start of their Australasian tour rather than the end. Rod Byers ( AKA Radiation) was having a terrible night with some of his usual Skabilly guitar breaks sounding late and at times off key. As the night drew on, Rod was obviously having a bad time and became an "added apendage" to the right of the stage, not really contributing to the set.
It was the rock solid Bass of Horace Panter and rythm skanks of Lynvall Golding that ruled the night with it seems a lot of the lead being played by the keyboardist.
Terry Hall was his usual self, looking bored and grim faced, which to be fair is his Hall mark (pardon the pun)
Neville Staples was his usual "rakish" self and kept the toasting going, however you could see that even his batteries had been worn down somewhat.
Most of the set, came from the 2nd album "more Specials" and considering it has been ove 4 years since they reformed, I was expecting some new material. Maybe they are missing Jerry Dammers more than they would like to admit for some artistic inspiration.
On the whole it was good night for the Ska officinado's in the crowd and I beleived most had a great time, I did, but I am a little bias as the band comes from my home town of Coventry, however I have witnessed a better more enegetic Specials than I saw this night.
Mind you, most are at the wrong end of their 50th birthday, so an allowances should be made.
Shed 10 @
- Auckland @
- Tue 10 Apr 2012 @
Favourite moment: Lynvall Golding stating "you young people at the back, come down the front and see what your parents are doing" @
Setlist: The same songs from both albums, but re-arranged @
Opening act(s): Not bad. I didn't catch their name but if they are from these shores, I would certainly give them another go on another night. @