The Specials- Concert March 7th 2017
What a brilliant band and what a brilliant night! After many years of listening to The Specials being played around the house by my mother and father, I grew up adopting my parents' music taste and later experiencing some of the greatest concerts in my life.
Dressed up in a navy and orange top, my mother's Doc Martens from the 90s, some shorts and a less radical- mod style updo, I jumped on the train with my parents and headed to a concert that would change my life.
I watched as many people queued up to have their ID checked and their wrists stamped. We all had one thing in common, we were there to see a band that had changed Ska music and the way people had been listening to it since 1977.
The first thing I knew I was going to do was fork out the $45 to pay for a band shirt. It was and still is my signature tradition whenever I go to concerts. Money is never an object, the band and their merchandise are worth it. However, I must say that the venue was not the greatest. If you're familiar with Metro City in Northbridge, you'll understand that fire exits are hard to locate, the floor is sticky from being abused by alcohol and there are stairs EVERYWHERE. If you're there for a band, it isn't so bad but if you're there to go clubbing...maybe reconsider your club choices?
Anyway, as I stepped inside the venue, I forced my parents forward to the stage by running as hard as I could through the crowds of people who would have had a good 20+ years on me. No one was running to the stage like they would at any other concert and my only guess was that it could be the busted hips setting in or the old knees that survived Vietnam. My dad didn't want to run and my mum was carrying two waters, so I carried on ahead of them but a bit, casually spilling my Smirnoff Black Ice with red Grenadine.
At 8.30pm, the surround sound went down and a man in a red suit stepped out and stood up to his DJ stand. I rolled my eyes as he tried to hype the crowd up. "We're not here for you, hurry up." I mumbled under my breath, though no one would have heard me if I yelled it out anyway.
I believe the way that people DJ has changed. When I hear 'DJ" I think of a guy in 1993 with headphones on, pulling out two different vinyls and mixing them together. Instead, I've seen people use MP3's and iTunes and putting one vinyl on the deck and just leaving it while they casually bop their heads. I danced a little but was really longing for The Specials to hurry up and kick this guy off the stage. Eventually they did, but it wasn't for a good hour and a bit.
I shrieked as soon as they rocked up on stage in suits and Terry Hall in some kind of a boiler suit. It was a miracle that they were actually here in Perth. Who comes to Perth these days? No one interesting but for once, we were blessed. They opened up with "Ghost Town" and by magic, the lyrics flew out of my mouth as Terry occasionally looked at me (YES, HE LOOKED AT ME). Probably wondering why such a young girl was in the crowd. I wasn't even alive in the peak of their musical career. And good old Lynval Golding gave us a smile too- such a cool dude!
Throughout their intervals between songs they cracked jokes, talked about Donald Trump and the fact that Lynval was an American citizen and gave me a little insight to what the early days of their career was like.
About five minutes after their concert ended, mum turned me back around to the stage, despite bodies scrambling out of the place from all directions. "Look, they're giving away things!" My heart started beating faster and I bolted back a few inches to the gate that separated the crowd from the stage. I watched as the sound techies handed out guitar picks and music notes to fans waving their hands about. It was my turn. I yelled and waved my hands about like a crazy woman until a kind techie with long dreads handed me a setlist with electrical tape on the corners. "OH MY GOD!" I yelled. Carefully, I concealed the setlist under my shirt as we vacated the venue and it was still sitting there until I got home, making sure no one would take it and that I wouldn't lose it.
For anyone who hasn't seen The Specials, I would highly recommend that you do. Listen to their music, buy their albums and support the band. They're a lovely bunch of English folk who make terrific music. Thanks for coming to Perth lads, it was a pleasure to have been able to watch you with my own two eyes.
