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    Home»News»The English Beat Announce U.S. Tour in Support of “Here We Go Love,” First New Album Since 1982
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    The English Beat Announce U.S. Tour in Support of “Here We Go Love,” First New Album Since 1982

    By Dom VigilMay 17, 2018

     


    The-English-Beat-Here-We-Go-Love.jpeg

     

    As The English Beat starring Dave Wakeling readies the public for the release of HERE WE GO LOVE, their first studio album since 1982, on June 15, 2018, venues across the country are bracing for a frenetic and frantic round of skanking with the announcement of U.S. tour dates. 

    All dates are below! 

    With his brand-new collection of 13 vital songs from the new record to choose from along with his timeless classics such as “Twist and Crawl”, “Mirror in the Bathroom”, “Tenderness” (from his General Public days), and of course, “Save It For Later,” Dave Wakeling and his band will be making way for a new generation of Ska, Punk, Reggae, and Pop (tour dates below).

    As engaged and switched on as ever, Dave Wakeling’s lyrics draw from observing life; and given the tumultuous events of recent months.  His thoughts on what holds us together, but also the impermanence that underscores the human condition, have never been more relevant. Here We Go Love has been crafted over the last two years in between breaks from touring.

    Wakeling’s ability to create a nagging pop hook is undimmed, as too is his political edge.  Blending wit and wisdom, and of course Ska, Punk, Soul, Reggae, Pop and anything else that came to hand in the melting pot that was late 70s Birmingham, The English Beat were ahead of the time and creating a hybrid sound that came in part to define their times.  With five Top 10 singles to their name, their first two albums Just Can’t Stop It and Whap’pen both bounded to #3 in the UK charts and their rise continued to the point where they could fill arenas across America. They were, as vocalist, guitarist and songwriter Wakeling recalls, “An incongruous set of people from all different cultures and upbringings.” When the Birmingham sextet first hit the charts in 1979, joint-frontman Ranking Roger was just sixteen-years-old while saxophonist Saxa, who had played with the likes of Desmond Dekker and Prince Buster, was pushing fifty.

    Here We Go Love references that vitality, whilst refracting through the prism of experience and is packed with a fizzing energy and intent right from the start.  Thematically, Wakeling explores the outer regions of what it means to be alive in the here and now; notions of love, self, identity, and of course politics. “The One And Only” examines, “the Donald Trump in all of us. It is too easy for us to just point fingers.”  While the music rolls on a tight groove from the live band, a handful of special guests make a significant contribution too – notably Roddy ‘Radiation’ Byers of The Specials and The Skabilly Rebels, Train guitarist Luis Maldonado and backing vocalists Durga McBroom, Kevin Williams and Jelani Jones. Wakeling even sought input from The English Beat’s late saxophonist Saxa. Although encumbered by a tendon injury which meant he couldn’t play, he hummed some saxophone melodies which Wakeling incorporated into the album to maintain a taste of his musical flavor.

    The release of Here We Go Love represents a culmination of a lengthy journey for Wakeling, a man who has been described as “a singer-songwriter as savagely witty as Elvis Costello” (Rolling Stone) and who “ought to be spoken of in the same breath as Weller and Strummer in the post-punk pantheon of heroes” (The Quietus). Honoring The English Beat’s roots, without being beholden to the past, Dave Wakeling’s reappraisal starts here. 

    Here We Go Love offers fans the chance to reconnect with a truly essential British act.  A band that matters.

    ENGLISH BEAT feat. Dave Wakeling
    ON TOUR

    May 18       San Juan Capistrano, CA              Coach House
    May 19       Hermosa Beach, CA                        Saint Rocke
    June 21    Falls Church, VA                                State Theatre
    June 22    Philadelphia, PA                                Underground Arts
    June 23    Boston, MA                                          The Sinclair
    June 24    Brooklyn, NY                                       The Bell House
    June 28    Pasadena, CA                                      The Rose
    June 29    Big Bear Lake, CA                               The Cave
    June 30    Riverside, CA                                       Romano’s
    July 6        Chicago, IL                                           The Metro
    July 7        Minneapolis, MN                                First Ave
    July 10      Kent, OH                                               The Kent Stage
    July 11      Milwaukee, WI                                     Turner Ballroom
    July 12      Omaha, NE                                            The Slowdown
    July 15      Denver, CO                                            The Gothic
    July 16      Salt Lake City, UT                                 The Complex
    July 18      Salem, OR                                              Salem’s Riverfront Park
    July 19      Orange, CA                                            Irvine Regional Park
    July 20      Seattle, WA                                           The Showbox
    July 25      Dallas, TX                                              The Kessler
    July 26      Austin, TX                                             The Scoot Inn
    July 27      Houston, TX                                         Heights Theatre
    July 29      Atlanta, GA                                          The Masquerade
    July 30      New Orleans, LA                                  House of Blues
    August 7   Nantucket, MA                                     The Chicken Box
    August 8   Nantucket, MA                                     The Chicken Box
    August 9   Truro, MA                                             Payomet PAC
    August 10 Kingston, RI                                          Ocean Mist
    August 17 Santa Cruz, CA  (FREE SHOW)         Santa Cruz Boardwalk
    August 24 Sacramento, CA                                   Ace of Spades
    Nov 3         Punta Cana, DR                                    80’s In The Sand

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