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Dave Wakeling of The English Beat (Photo by Jay Gilbert)
The English Beat starring Dave Wakeling released Here We Go Love, their hotly anticipated new album on June 15! It was the first new album from The English Beat since 1982! And it’s full of terrific songs.
Dave and company will play some of those songs along with old favorites at the State Theatre on Thursday, June 21.
The English Beat perform at the Lincoln Theatre on Nov. 7, 2017.
The indefatigable Dave Wakeling and The English Beat have a new album poised for release in March — Here We Go Love — with singles due to hit the airwaves in January. It’s already remarkable that the Englishman has turned three original English Beat albums, and three successive General Public albums, into an entertaining tour de force, and even more so that the new album is really very good.
The new songs shined in performance during an energetic show at the Lincoln Theatre on Tuesday, Nov. 7.
Dave Wakeling of the English Beat (Photo by Bryan Kremkau)
Legendary ska rockers English Beat are closing out the year with another tour of the United States, and frontman Dave Wakeling and company visit the Lincoln Theatre in DC on Tuesday, Nov. 7.
Howard Jones is headlining the Retro Futura Tour 2017. (Photo by Simon Fowler)
In recent months, Parklife DC has talked to the legendary Howard Jones and English Beat frontman Dave Wakeling, both of whom are excited about embarking on the summer Retro Futura Tour, now underway. (Read our interview with Howard here and our interview with Dave here.) The ’80s icons are heading to Pier Six Pavilion in Baltimore, Maryland, on Sunday, July 30, along with Modern English, Men Without Hats, Katrina (formerly of The Waves), and Annabella Lwin (formerly of Bow Wow Wow.) You can win tickets to go with Parklife DC!
Dave Wakeling of The English Beat performs at 9:30 Club on Wednesday, March 1, 2017. (Photo by Ben Eisendrath /Instagram+Twitter: GrillworksBen)
Last week, The English beat performed to a very crowded house at 9:30 Club, and Parklife DC caught the show. (Read our review!) Prior to the show, I had the opportunity to sit down with David Wakeling, the brains behind the band, for a lengthy chat. Born in Birmingham, England, Dave started The Beat there (and took it to the United States where it became known as The English Beat.) Roughly 30 years ago, he migrated to the United States and now resides in Southern California.
English Beat perform at 9:30 Club on March 1, 2017. (Photo by Ben Eisendrath /Instagram+Twitter: GrillworksBen)
Dave Wakeling arrived in DC Wednesday in good spirits. With a mischievous grin and a boisterous attitude, Dave and his band in The English Beat appeared at 9:30 Club to enthrall a very full house with Dave’s time-tested ska, reggae, and new wave hits, which had the whole room skanking.
Dave Wakeling and The English Beat have been no strangers to DC, last performing at the 9:30 Club to open for Squeeze last fall. The band next return to the 9:30 Club on Wednesday, March 1, to provide a proper headlining set.
Dave Wakeling performs with The English Beat at the 9:30 Club on Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2016. (Photo by Mickey McCarter)
“This song has been used by two presidential campaigns,” Dave Wakeling said of his cover of “I’ll Take You There” by The Staple Sisters, “and both presidents served two terms! So if you fancy being president of America, it appears that I’m your man! I’ll take you there!”
The number, of course, was used by the presidential campaigns of both Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, but Dave wasn’t overtly political in his appearance at the 9:30 Club on Tuesday, Oct. 11. He and The English Beat got down to performing the 1994 version of “I’ll Take You There,” recorded by Dave’s former band General Public, with vigor.
Dave Wakeling of The English Beat performs at Bumbershoot 2010 in Seattle on Sept. 6, 2010. (Photo by Dave Lichterman)
Calling all rude boys and rude girls!
The venerable English Beat have been revitalized this year with a new toaster — King Schascha. For a 2-tone band, a toaster isn’t mechanical, but in King’s case, he’s certainly electric.
The reggae rhymer from San Diego effectively got the very full house at the 9:30 Club dancing right away on Wednesday, Nov. 25, paving the way for band leader Dave Wakeling and his time-tested repertoire of ska and reggae. They kicked things off with “Rough Rider” from the debut album by the English Beat, 1980’s I Just Can’t Stop It, and the entire audience was moving and grooving from the very first note.
Dave Wakeling (Photo by Bryan Kremkau)
The English Beat are perennial favorites in the DC metro area. They turned up at the State Theatre not long ago, and now they have a show slated for the 9:30 Club.
But wait! Not only are the [English] Beat hitting our premiere concert destination on Wednesday, Nov. 25, they also are preparing to release a new album, tentatively titled Here We Go Love! The ska/reggae collective famously published three albums in the early ‘80s, and they haven’t released a new studio album since Special Beat Service in 1982.
Special Beat Service, of course, spawned some of the English Beat’s greatest hits, such as “I Confess” and “Mirror in the Bathroom,” fueling the capability of Dave Wakeling and company to continuously tour the world for years.
Watch the official video for “Mirror in the Bathroom” on YouTube:
If you haven’t seen the English Beat in a while, or somehow you have never done so (you saved it for later?), this is a perfect opportunity to see them. After all, they are playing the night before a holiday, so you have all of the time in the world to beat to the Beat.
The English Beat
9:30 Club
Wednesday, Nov. 25
Doors @7pm
$25
All ages
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