Skaville UK, New Groove Formation, The Pressure Tones, Minimal Damage.

Lev 2 Esquires Bedford. 25th January 2008.

If last week’s ska evening predominantly featured the alternative side , tonight was all about the traditional slice of the genre. Returning for their annual Esquires visit are veteran performers SKAVILLE UK. As you may remember, they feature ex-members of Bad Manners, Selecter, and other artists of that ilk. However, this evening’s gig includes a most welcome surprise with the guest appearance by the lovely and most talented lady of Ska, Miss Rhoda Dakar.

Opening with the largely instrumental ‘Live Injection’, it’s apparent that the good sized crowd are here to party. A mixture of young and old, male and female, buck the trend of rather flat Ska evenings. Tonight, Skaville UK showcase songs from their current album '1973' which seem to blend in well with the old classics that form such a large chunk of their set. As befitting such an esteemed performer, the band separately welcome on stage Rhoda Dakar, a legendary 2 Tone star from her days at the helm of the Bodysnatchers plus her work with the Specials. As she beautifully sings ‘No, No, No’, the years roll back. Normally on a Skaville UK gig, Jenny, ex of the Bellestars sings on ‘Can’t Get You Outta My Head’, but tonight Rhoda steps in so sweetly. When she rallies the band for her classic ‘Do The Rocksteady’, the room erupts in total spontaneous dancing. Other highlights include Lous Alphonso’s vocals on Suicide and Martin Stewart’s solo on ‘My Girl Lollipop’. But most especially the crowd, who just skanked and skanked all evening!

Strong support began with Ska youngsters MINIMAL DAMAGE, who immediately ask the crowd to come forward and have a dance. As the band engage in ‘Dark March’, the audience readily respond to Johnny’s request but he demands more as he urges the still hesitant and nervous punters to move it. This seem to have an effect as ‘The Damage’ sets the tone for the rest of the evening. As the set develops the crowd are loosened by a steady flow of ale, and freed of early inhibitions and dance. ‘Wolves and Vultures’ tells ohe ska tale of taking care of mates, while the heavy blast of brass totally dominates on ‘Balance of Power’, ‘Chatterbox’ follows a similar vein. Minimal Damage close with ‘Law and Order’, a new song that they have never publicly played before, it contains a faint reggae lilt that I enjoyed.

The evening also contains THE PRESSURE TONES, who ravenously indulge in old skool ska with lashings of street attitude, followed by NEW GROOVE FORMATION, who kept the crowd dancing as only they know how. They play tight as a unit and ‘International Waste of Time’ is the pick of an impressive set.