Since moving to Los Angeles, I’ve definitely gotten the chance to go to a few great concerts (like the 80’s Night Cover Bands,  Rick Springfield, and AbbaFest) and this past Saturday was no exception – it was a night with The English Beat at a small local venue called T. Boyles Tavern.

The venue was one of the smallest I’ve been to in a long time.  It made me smile to see how close to the stage we could get.  We walked in the door and saw Dave Wakeling’s guitars all lined up.

The English Beat, Dave Wakeling, T. Boyles

I was a big fan of the ska/reggae laced English Beat and General Public in 80’s and 90’s but never got to see them live in my concert-going hey-day.  Even though I’ve been to a number of 80’s/90’s based bands recently, I still get a little happy when I realize that I’m not the oldest one in the audience.  I saw feathered hair at this show and silently chuckled to myself.

Dave Wakeling, The English Beat

I was that close

Even though Dave Wakeling didn’t look like the super cool guy of the 80’s (he was a bit paunchy and looked more like  he was going to a golf game), the man sounded stellar and played a fantastic 2 hour set!  I didn’t need to be reminded multiple times by the Rankin’ Roger substitute about 80’s nostalgia but overall, the set and the band were terrific.

You know you’ve been to a good concert when you know nearly every song played by the band then realize that they still didn’t play all of the songs you know.  I tried to find a set list but couldn’t but here’s my recollection:

Rough Rider

Hands Off…She’s Mine

Twist and Crawl

I’ll Take You There

I Confess

Click Click

Save It For Later

Can’t Get Used To Losing You

Whine and Grine/Stand Down Margaret

Best Friend

Too Nice To Talk To

Never You Done That

Sole Salvation

Tenderness

Ranking Full Stop

Mirror In The Bathroom

They didn’t play two of my favorites “Doors of Your Heart” or “Tears of a Clown” but it was still a fantastic show.  I was so blown away by Dave and the band that I fell down the rabbit hole known as YouTube and found out 2 very interesting things about Dave Wakeling:

  1. He is not a lefty.  He just learned to play the guitar wrong (and upside down orignally) and never changed.
  2. Pete Townshend called him to learn how to play “Save It For Later” because Dave’s tuning for the song was atypical.

Bottom line, The English Beat are a can’t miss band.  They’re on tour now and if you can see them, do!

Disclaimer:  Please know that I was not paid to go to this show or obligated to write about it.  I gladly paid my own money and wanted to share what a great concert it was with all of my other 80’s music fans.

What band or musical artist blew you away like you never expected when you saw them in concert?