TWO TONE LEGENDS THE SELECTER TURN BACK THE CLOCK FOR STORMING SHOW
Two tone legends The Selecter are back on the road with a brand-new album and a promotional tour to accompany it. Human Algebra is the latest collection of recordings, the bands sixteenth record and first in six years. Tracks from it would be showcased on the tour but we all know the tracks the fans came to hear.
Opening for them on the Glasgow leg were locals The Guillotines, who’s brand of punk and ska is in sharp contrast to the headliners, but they were well received by the ever-expanding crowd. A decent warm up from a decent band.
The Selecter were formed in Coventry in 1979. Classed as one of the pioneers of the Ska revival having co-released the first chart single Gangsters with The Special AKA with their own debut single The Selecter on the reverse, they were a regular in the UK charts for the short period their first line up lasted, alongside Two-Tone compatriots Madness, The Specials, The Beat and Bad Manners, to name but a few. The bands line up has seen many come and go over the years but today the current version of The Selecter still sees original members Pauline Black and Arthur Gaps Hendrickson on main vocal duties with Charley Aitch Bembridge maintaining the core of the band on drums.
Its lights out time and we hear the familiar tones of The Laurie Johnson Orchestra and the theme to The Avengers as the band take to the stage. Three Minute Hero opened proceedings and prepared everyone nicely for the exertions ahead. 2017’s single Frontline followed on, a bouncy singalong which attacks society’s addiction to live life through social media, ironic with so many mobiles in the air taking snapshots of the evening for posterity. A dip into the second album now, (Who Likes) Facing Situations, Bristol and Miami, and Deepwater before the title track, Celebrate the Bullet. Time may be marching on from the original release dates of the old stuff but it still sounds great played live. New music from the band in tracks Human Algebra which covers the horrible increase in knife crime in the UK, War War War with more than a hint of UB40 to the music, and Stop Them, before returning to the classics. Missing Words, a cover of The Ethiopians Train to Skaville, a retake on the James Bond theme, Murder, another singalong with Carry Go Bring Come before ending the first set with the bands first single in their own right, the 1979 top ten hit On My Radio.
After a short break the band returned for three more tracks. The bands last foray into the UK top 40, 1980 single The Whisper, a cover of George Dekker’s Everyday and rounding the evening off with Too Much Pressure.
This was another terrific trip down Nostalgia Lane, with a band on top form playing the classic tunes both old and new. The front line of Pauline Black and Gaps show no sign of letting up and on this showing who can blame them? As popular now as they’ve ever been, the old numbers still sound great and the new stuff slots in beside the old perfectly. Definitely a gig to bring your dancing shoes and relive your youth for the night.
Review & Photographs by Stephen Wilson