The Specials set the ska bar high at House of Blues

Author

By Victoria Leyva

Publish Date

March 29, 2013

The music, the people watching, and dancing side-by-side to the propulsive classic ska of the Specials at a packed House of Blues performance took listeners back to the 2 Tone ska scene of the late ’70s. Tunes such as “Monkey Man,” “Ghost Town,” and “Do the Dog” stirred memories in the sweat-drenched crowd of senior ska fans and had 20-somethings hopping and skanking to the English legends onstage.

The youngsters in the crowd were the posers here. The young crowd’s thrift shop suits and dresses were the clothing that once belonged to the older crowd. It was incredible to see that as the Specials ripped through their set, the young were being weeded out by exhaustion, while those in the crowd who had kids and careers didn’t stop dancing the entire time.

The band’s dancing onstage in their black and white polo shirts and suits kept the energy level at a titillating high. When the Specials sang the lyrics “Enjoy yourself! It’s later than you think,” it seemed as if they were speaking to the younger generation of ska lovers, and the older crowd couldn’t agree more.