Categories: Live ReviewsMusic

Review: UK ska legends The Specials made a triumphant return to Montreal

Maybe you can call it a comeback. UK ska legends The Specials are currently out on tour in support of the recently released Encore, which marks their first new album with singer Terry Hall in nearly three decades. Debuting at number 1 on the UK charts, it demonstrates just how much demand for the band has grown over the ensuing years — it’s pretty incredible that in 2019 The Specials are still releasing thought-provoking and relevant music that is reaching a large audience.

The band returned to Montreal on Monday night for a sold-out show at Corona Theatre, in front of a diverse crowd that ran the gamut from children right through to middle-aged rude boys who had long since retired from their early skanking days. Taking the stage in front of a wall of protest signs including slogans like “Fight Ignorance Not Immigration,” and “Listen To More Sly and the Family Stone,” the band kicked off their set with “Man from C&A” from 1980’s More Specials LP, before running through a few numbers from the excellent Encore album. New tracks like the bitingly relevant “Vote for Me” and “Embarrassed by You” made early appearances in the set, proving that the band weren’t going in for a full nostalgia trip — the hits would come, but the band seemed just as fired up by the new material as their classics, which is always a good sign.

Terry Hall might have looked like he would rather be anywhere else, staying in his corner of the stage and barely moving an iota for most of the show, but his vocals sounded pitch perfect, which more than made up for the stark contrast between his resigned demeanor and the rest of the amped-up band, especially guitarist and vocalist Lynval Golding who continuously hyped up the crowd. It likely didn’t help that the band was beset by technical issues throughout the show, from microphones sporadically cutting out to a monitor issue that caused Hall to momentarily walk off the stage (thankfully not for good).

The latter half of the show is where the night really took off, with the band running through timeless classics like “A Message To You, Rudy,” “Nite Klub,” “Too Much Too Young,” and a joyous “Monkey Man,” that had the entire dancefloor shaking with people pogoing and skanking along. Alongside all of their upbeat material, mid-tempo songs like “Gangsters” took on a nearly dub-like vibe, with the bass pumped up high in the mix and the room bathed in red lights.

The true highlight of the night might have been when guest vocalist (and UK activist) Saffiyah Khan led the band through Encore‘s “10 Commandments,” a feminist rebuttal to Prince Buster’s 1960’s original, which features lyrics like “Thou shall not drink, or smoke / Nor use profane language / For those bad habits I will not stand for.” Khan subverts those outdated tropes, offering lines like “Thou may catcall me on the street / But thou should take note that I’ll catcall you right back / To tell you that you look pretty sexy too in your joggers,” which fired up the audience as she sang the majority of the track right in their faces on the floor. It was a thrilling reminder of the political power of The Specials, a band whose diverse lineup and bold stance against racism was legitimately revolutionary at the time (and still is to this day).

The band’s complete setlist from the night is below. For all upcoming tour dates visit The Specials on the web.

The Specials setlsit – Corona Theatre, Montreal – June 19, 2019

Man at C&A
Rat Race
Do Nothing
Vote for Me
Friday Night, Saturday Morning
Embarrassed by You
Blank Expression
Doesn’t Make It Alright
The Lunatics Have Taken Over the Asylum
Blam Blam Fever
A Message to You, Rudy
Stereotype
10 Commandments
Nite Klub
Do the Dog
Concrete Jungle
Monkey Man
Gangsters
Too Much Too Young