tonight anna & i & b. & c. headed to roseville, ca to see in person one of our favorite bands from our youth, The English Beat. the beat, led by dave wakeling, is a 2nd wave ska band from birmingham, england. but today wakeling lives in SoCal & i believe earns his bread by continuous touring. which can't be easy for the singer/songwriter just celebrated his 69th orbit around the sun. still, wakeling sounds great & when you hear the opening chords to a song like 'Save it For Later' you can't help it; your moneymaker starts to shake, involuntary, to the beat.
the band is tight. wakeling tells his stories with humor & he sings with brio. he dresses the same as he did in the 1980s. his guitars are still plastered with stickers that read RUDE BOY. & they always put on one helluva show. tonight was no exception, even if the sounds system muddied the vocals. & what do you do when you know the songs for so long & so intimately. you sing along, you dance, you thank gawd you are alive to experience live music.
[waiting for the band]
anna & i must've seen the beat close to half a dozen times since they reformed & went on the road in 1997. last time i saw the band play was at an '80s nostalgia tour at a local indian casino about 3 years ago, along with Oingo Boingo [sans danny elfman], Wang Chung, Missing Persons et al. the beat fucking rocked the house. they always do.
but even with a muddy PA system i had a blast. i really, really do love live music. i love the energy of the audience with the performers. i love the ambience. i even love the crowds even if some members of the audience piss me off. i mean, if you paid x number of dollars to see a band play, & you want to see that band play, SHUT THE FUCK UP! don't stand around & gab thru the band's set. i'm there to see the band, listen to their music, & disappear into their sound. someone talking loudly enough that i can hear them is TOO MUCH! geez! also, stop wandering around the venue. in a smaller club, like the one tonight, we are packed pretty close together. the closer you stand to the stage the more densely packed you get. i want a good view of the band. i want to see them play. i want to hear the songs. i want to dance & sing along with the music. so for gawd's sake stop wandering the fuck around bumping into people. if you have a better place to be than be at this show, GO THERE! leave me in peace to see the band i love & i paid to see!
[merch]
like i said the venue was small. probably at capacity the club can accommodate 700 people. ticket prices for tonight's show were quite reasonable. anna did a quick back of the envelope calculation & figured the receipts were a little less than five grand. there are probably other sources of revenue for the band, including selling t-shirts & such. but it ain't easy being a working musician in today's market. hence, probably, the constant touring. how much longer can dave wakeling keep touring? i dunno. i hope for a long while still.
i wrote a poem published in my first chapbook, THE GRAPEVINE, about attending a concert with anna at the Shoreline Amphitheater in mountain view, ca. elvis costello was the featured artist. the opener was the abysmal Crash Test Dummies, who had a minor, & very annoying, hit at the time. the poem was about my inability to dance when anna was trying to get me to get my groove-thing going. i confess, i still can't dance. you remember that episode of the TV sitcom Seinfeld when elaine dances at a party? she looked like an alien trying to imitate a human being. well, that's me too. when i try to dance i look like an alien is trying to act like a regular human person. yes, i am that awkward & awful at dancing.
& yet when the beat plays at the first intensity even i have a hard time resisting grooving. i can feel my toes tapping, my hips swaying, my head nodding to the beat. it is an ecstasy. it is ABSOLUTE MUSIC. i am now officially an old guy. i'm nearing the town of GEEZERHOOD. & still, 'for all my crimes in self-defense' music makes me really really fucking glad that i am alive, & that i have lived so i that can know the magic of live tunes.
[the english beat]
p.s.
