The Specials

Second gig of the week. Trouble was it had to stand up to the previous night's gig with Heaven 17, and that was one that had a lot of living up to. So no poor reflection on the Specials whom I always enjoy, but this wasn't quite up to the previous night, perhaps mostly because they are so much more predictable. No new tracks from the Specials, and its always really the same pack that they shuffle. But it is some pack.

I lost the mate who was intending to accompany me, but in his place I gained a rather younger companion, the oldest son of one of my colleagues. He has a real retro interest and seemed to enjoy the gig a lot, even though everything played had been written even before he was born.

The surprising part of the gig was the support acts who had absolutely nothing in common with the main act. First up, very early in the evening, were a large young rock outfit - the Scenes. On so early that the Roundhouse had virtually no audience to watch them, making the lead singers rock histrionics rather comical.

Next up was an even more weird combo, the Sleaford Mods. Really hard to describe this pair. Not least as only one of them actually did anything, his mate just standing around like a tramp, occasionally pushing a button but mostly silently swigging from a bottle. The lead singer was more of a beat poet, just belting out his spoken lyrics like an autistic rap artist. Really OCD actions. Weird. But at least different.

Then the Specials, opening with a great version of Ghost Town and then launching into all their familiar hits, with a nice little touch of banter thrown in. I particularly like Terry Hall's understated style, his slightly churlish nature. At one point after a manky hat had been thrown on sage he observed that he didn't mind things being thrown at him so long as they were valuable. "I want frankincense and myrrh. Give me myrrh."