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The peerless English Beat performs at the State Theatre in Falls Church, Virginia, on June 21, 2018. (Photo by Chester Simpson)
The English Beat have a brand new album out! The indefatigable Dave Wakeling and company published Here We Go Love earlier this month via Here We Go Records to very strong reviews. And Dave and the band dropped by the State Theatre in Falls Church to play a few of the new songs long with some old favorites on Thursday.
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!
Howard Jones performs at The Hamilton on Sept. 3, 2016.
Tonight — don’t crack up, bend your brain, see both sides, and throw off your mental chains with Careless Memories! And dance the evening away as if we were at a summer music festival. Starting at 8pm at Dodge City, I’ll play artists like Howard Jones, The English Beat, Modern English, Men Without Hats, Bow Wow Wow, Katrina and The Waves, Thompson Twins, Midge Ure, and others, inspired by the summer Retro Futura Tour.
To get ready for all of it, I chatted with Howard Jones himself last week! Revisit our Parklife DC interview with Howard, and then join our listening party at Careless Memories tonight.
Howard Jones (Photo by David Conn)
“Do you feel scared? I do, but I won’t stop and falter.”
So, sang Howard Jones in his smashing 1985 hit “Things Can Only Get Better,” which in my opinion perfectly framed Howard’s ethos. The Englishman is unflappably upbeat and optimistic, and he makes fantastically irresistible music still today.
Howard Jones at Rewind Festival in 2013. (Photo courtesy Universal News and Sport)
Editors Note: This event was originally scheduled for May 25, but we have moved it to June 8. On May 25, we will present an evening of music dedicated to bands from Manchester in solidarity with the city after this week’s tragedy.
For the last several years, an ’80s festival called Retro Futura has presented some of our favorite artists, including Howard Jones, The English Beat, Modern English, Men Without Hats, Katrina (of The Waves), Tom Bailey of the Thompson Twins, Midge Ure, and many others.
We’ll celebrate the ’80s festival circuit with these artists and others, alongside your requests, at the next edition of Careless Memories: A New Wave Party, this Thursday, May 25.
Annabella Lwin at Dreamland in San Francisco on Sept. 28, 1981. (Photo by Chester Simpson)
The fascinating thing about hitting pop stardom in 1980 when you’re aged 13 — like Annabella Lwin, former lead singer of Bow Wow Wow — is that some 37 years later you might still have energy and creativity yet to tour anew. In the case of Annabella, Baltimore receives a treat when she appears on the bill of the Retro Futura Tour, replacing Paul Young on one of the dates for the traveling ’80s festival, on Sunday, July 30.
Today is a presale for the touring ’80s festival known as the Retro Futura Tour, which stops at Pier Six Pavilion in Baltimore on Sunday, July 30. DC folks may remember it as The Regeneration Tour, but it has been reshaped and rebranded since its visits to Wolf Trap a few years back!
Visit Live Nation and use the presale code MAGIC until 10pm today to get advance tickets to see the 2017 tour with Howard Jones, The English Beat, Modern English, Men Without Hats, Katrina (formerly of Katrina and the Waves), and Annabella Lwin (formerly of Bow Wow Wow, standing in for Paul Young on July 30). Tickets become available to the public on Friday.