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ska roundup: The English Beat, The Selecter, Toasters & more

by Bill Pearis

The Selecter @ Coachella 2013 (more by Dana [distortion] Yavin)
The Selecter

The English Beat, which is basically frontman Dave Wakeling and a bunch of hired hands at this point, will play The Bell House on October 19, and a Long Island show on October 25 at The Paramount. It’s part of a fall tour for the band and all dates are listed below. Tickets for the Bell House are on sale now, and tickets for the Paramount show go on sale Saturday (9/7) at 10 AM. Band line-up aside, there is no doubting the quality of The English Beat’s three ’80s albums (all very different and only the first is really ska) which got reissued by Shout Factory last year as part of a box set called The Complete Beat that contained tons of rare 12″ versions, b-sides, live cuts and more. The individual records got UK reissues with bonus discs too, worth seeking out.

As mentioned briefly, fellow 2-Tone era band The Selecter are gearing up for short North American tour. There are a couple “versions” of The Selecter touring, this one is with original singers Pauline Black and Arthur ‘Gaps’ Hendrickson. The band, who shared a side of 2-Tone’s first-ever single with The Specials (who were just in NYC) and have such classics as “Too Much Pressure” and “On My Radio,” will play NYC on September 20 at Gramercy Theatre. Tickets are still available.

Meanwhile, NYC ska vets The Toasters will be playing with ska-punks Voodoo Glow Skulls at Knitting Factory on October 6 and tickets are on sale now.

And not in NYC but The Mighty Mighty Bosstones will hold their annual Hometown Throwdown (which they’ve been doing since 1997) on December 27, 28 and 29, at the House of Blues in Boston. Tickets for that will go on sale September 20.

The English Beat and Selecter tour dates are listed, along with a few videos, below.

The Beat – Tears of a Clown (on Top of the Pops)

The English Beat – 2013 Tour Dates
Sep 06 Gothic Theatre Englewood, CO
Sep 07 Ska Brewing Durango, CO
Sep 14 Bimbo’s 365 Club San Francisco, CA
Sep 15 Lobster Festival San Pedro, CA
Sep 21 Folsom Live Folsom, CA
Sep 27 SLO BREW San Luis Obispo, CA
Oct 04 Mystic Theatre Petaluma, CA
Oct 09 The Loft Atlanta, GA
Oct 10 Plaza ‘LIVE’ Orlando, FL
Oct 11 State Theatre St Petersburg, FL
Oct 12 Culture Room Fort Lauderdale, FL
Oct 16 Johnny D’s Uptown Restaurant & Music Club Somerville, MA
Oct 17 Port City Music Hall Portland, ME
Oct 18 Tupelo Music Hall White River Junction, VT
Oct 19 Bell House New York, NY
Oct 20 Tupelo Music Hall Londonderry, NH
Oct 23 State Theatre Falls Church, VA
Oct 24 Manchester 65 West Warwick, RI
Oct 26 Cats Cradle Carrboro, NC
Nov 01 Romano’s Riverside, CA
Nov 02 Soho Restaurant and Music Club Santa Barbara, CA
Nov 22 Belly Up Solana Beach, CA
Nov 23 Belly Up Solana Beach, CA

The Selecter – On My Radio

The Selecter – Too Much Pressure

The Selecter – 2013 Tour Dates
Sep 13th Cedar Cultural Center Minneapolis, MN
Sep 14th Riot Fest Chicago, IL
Sep 15th Magic Bag Detroit, MI
Sep 17th Lee’s Palace Toronto, ON
Sep 18th Starlight Room Waterloo, ON
Sep 19th Trocadero Philadelphia, PA
Sep 20th Gramercy Theatre New York, NY
Sep 21st Paradise Rock Club Boston, MA
Sep 22nd State Theatre Washington, DC