Some say that music can heal. If that’s so, reggae fusion bands UB40 and The English Beat brought a balm to Albany’s Palace Theatre Thursday night, the 24th anniversary of 9/11, raising people to their feet to sway, dance and sing despite the harsh memories of the date and a saddening and divisive news week.
“Most mornings you don’t know if it’s going to be the start of World War III or the Age of Aquarius, or something in between,” Dave Wakeling, English Beat lead vocalist greeted the audience after coming on stage and saluting them. “How’d you like to spend [the next couple hours] not thinking about either?”
The crowd responded enthusiastically as the band, known for its mix of unity and social themes and its blend of pop, soul, reggae and punk rock, kicked off an evening of primarily upbeat numbers tinged with social messages, beginning at 8 p.m. “I had a hard night last night,” Wakeling crooned as he led off the set with “Rough Rider” from the band’s vintage album, I Just Can’t Stop It. “Lord, me feel so broke up today…She was a rough rider, A cool stroker…” he sang; then, after several more suggestive lyrics and references to war and blood, “I say bosoms and give me love and unity. And what about humanity?” – an odd mix of sexual healing and social conscience backed by a pleasing mix of electric guitar, saxophone, percussion and organ/keyboard.
“Twist and Crawl,” was presented second in the lineup with a rise in tempo and a reliance on refrain and instrumentation. “There were too many words in that one,” Wakeling quipped at the end of the number before introducing Antonee First Class from Kingston, Jamaica (by way of London, England), who got the crowd going with rapid-fire reggae vocals in the Staple Singers’ cover, “I’ll Take You There.”
“You are the General Public; make some noise,” First Class egged on the crowd, referring in part to the 1983 album on which the number was recorded, and the band “General Public,” to which Wakeling and former band member Ranking Roger had contributed. “Tenderness,” also from General Public, followed, with a more prominent easy-listening melody and overlayed backup vocals.
“I was always searching for something, till I got back to Albany,” Wakeling teased. “Where is the tenderness?” “Right here, right now,” First Class answered at the end of the song, after cheerleading early on, “Come on, babies, let’s go…give it up, give it up,” as he led the audience in group clapping. “Let’s see if there are any 1980s and 90s hecklers,” First Class segued into the next number, “Save It for Later,” rattling off a narrative about how, when he was small , “Mama” watched “Dallas” and “Dynasty” and “Daddy” watched “Columbo,” but the favorite was “Hawaii Five-O”: “Book ‘em, Danno.”
“Let’s jump,” First Class commanded mid-song to his band mates and audience members dancing in the aisles. And jump they did, adding to the energy growing in the Theatre. “I got some flashbacks, thanks to you,” Wakeling said at the end of the song. “And also a sense of unbridled optimism. “That can’t be,” he added in a rye aside. “I’ll have to check on that.” Segueing to the next song, First Class led the audience in a cheer: “S, K, A,” what does that spell?”, he shouted, referring to the 2-tone, “ska” revival style of “The Beat,” the name by which “The English Beat” is known in the U.K.
First Class demonstrated the style in the strong Caribbean flavor of “Can’t Get Used to Losing You,” a ska cover of a 1963 hit by Andy Williams. Against the melody and main lyrics about a relationship with a woman, First Class chanted, “Ah-ah-ah-ah-aha- hi. And I won’t tell you no lies” and “I told her I want her, you don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t,’’ among other refrains.
The band closed with “Mirror in the Bathroom,” during which Wakeling hammed for the audience, slapping himself in the face during one verse and making coo-coo motions and faces in another. The crowd sang the choruses at First Class’s urging.
A fast rhythm, which almost sounded like running steps, paced the song, which built up at the end with instrumental intensity.
The English Beat Setlist: Rough Rider, Twist and Crawl, I’ll Take You There, Tenderness, Save It for Later, Can’t Get Used to Losing You, Mirror in the Bathroom
UB40 took the stage around 9:20 p.m. in front of a large backdrop of the band name compartmentalized by a design of concentric circles broken up in purple, blue, black and yellow.
The headliners started out with an edgier and perhaps more Latin sound than that of The English Beat, featuring vocal harmonies and a strong trumpet solo one of the founding members, Laurence Parry, midway during “Here I Am (Come and Take Me),” an Al Green cover.
Like The English Beat, UB40 incorporated many covers to which they gave their own reggae/pop fusion styling, and more-or-less choreographed swaying and stepping to their music. “Maybe Tomorrow,” originally by the Jacksons, saw another trumpet solo by Parry.
Lanky back-up vocalist Gilly G strutted and took lead vocals for reggae parts mid-number before resuming his place alongside co-backup vocalist Matt Cambell, founding member Robin Campbell’s son.
G and the younger Campbell were a side-stepping, swaying staple of the band’s impressive 11-member presence for this and many other songs.
The Chi-Lites’ “Homely Girl,” sweetly sung by new lead singer and songwriter Matt Doyle, sounded like a 50s or 60s standard in its story content, but it was reggae-ized and backed up with more trumpet.
“Sing our Own Song” brought some social conscience to the set with Doyle’s lovely tenor leading again, but also noteworthy backup vocals, clapping over band members’ heads and a lengthy introduction on what appeared to be some kind of electronic clarinet, actually a breath-sensitive digital wind controller called a WX7.
“We fight for the right to be free…build our own society… and we will sing our own song,” sang Doyle, whom the elder Campbell introduced as the newest member of the band.
The social commentary continued in the fifth number, “One In Ten,” an up-tempo, almost staccato, reminder of Sept. 10’s events, despite being written in 1981 and appearing on setlists prior to that Wednesday’s shooting of students at an Evergreen, CO high school.
“I’m the murderer and the victim, the license with the gun,” Doyle sang in one verse as he played electric guitar, backed up by strong percussion/congas, a saxophone duet and trumpet solo.
“I’m a sad and bruised old lady in an alley in a slum
I’m a middle aged businessman with chronic heart disease
I’m another teenage suicide in a street that has no trees“I am a one in ten a number on a list
I am a one in ten even though i don’t exist
Nobody knows me, but I’m always there
A statistic a reminder of a world that doesn’t care”
Aside from hard-hitting lyrics, the number yielded a big Latin sound with horns that closed in a crescendo.
“Thanks for dancing,” Robin Cambell said after the song, which got people to their feet both amid the seats and in the aisles. “Just because you have a ticket for a seat doesn’t mean your ass has to be in it.
“We’re here celebrating 45 years,” he continued, “So we’re going to sing you some songs from an album imaginatively called UB45.” Doyle sang two of the songs, which he penned for the new album: “Home,” a Latin-sounding, easy-listening number with a personal narrative, splashes of horns and marimba-like keyboards, and “You Don’t Call Anymore.” During “Home,” recent band member Jahred Gordon left the keyboards to join G in a dance line, then swung a towel over his head to draw attention to a bongo solo by veteran Norman Lamont Hassan, another of UB40’s founding members.
“You Don’t Call Me Anymore” started out with electronically engineered echoes andshowcased Doyle on lead vocals in a more Caribbean, yet poppy, melody that intermittently took on a choppy quality before ending in a duet dialogue. With Doyle on melody and G talking over him with reggae-style interjections, the two crossed back and forth on the stage, ultimately facing each other front and center.
“Many Rivers to Cross,” a Jimmy Cliff cover, and “Gimme a Little Sign,” a Brenton Wood cover, rounded out the fare from the new album. The former was modernized with electronic overtones, prominent organ and some improvisational vocals at the end.
“Gimme a Little Sign” was another collaboration between G and Doyle, offering familiar lyrics the audience ate up, and an acapella ending.
“OK, time to do a couple for the hard-core fans,” the senior Cambell said, transitioning from the new album’s material. “Songs people ask us to put back in the set.”
The first, “Higher Ground,” off UB 40’s Promises and Lies album, bore a strong beat and great lyrics, such as the refrain, “The more I learn, the less I know about,” sung by Doyle and clearly enjoyed by the hard-core fans.
Another older request, a rousing cover of The Temptations’ “The Way You Do the Things You Do,’’ hybridized an already fused Motown/pop classic with reggae: upbeat, light and lively, with some keyboard interludes for a Jamaican sound, and a brief pause mid-number as the horn team, Parry, and saxophonists Martin Meredith and Ian Thompson came down from the back risers to show their stuff front and center.
Crediting “the late, great Robert Palmer,” the band then launched into “I’ll Be Your Baby” in front of a backdrop of black and white-patterned, spinning discs. The audience, many of whom were standing and swaying, thanks to keyboardist Gordon’s encouragement joined in on the choruses.
“Whew, got a feeling you knew that one,” the older Campbell teased. “If you don’t know this one, we’re all going home!” he added as a segue to “Cherry Oh Baby” by Eric Donaldson.
Audience members not only knew the tune but, on cue, raised their arms above their heads and swung them back and forth windshield-wiper style.
Percussionist Hassan stole the show briefly for the second to last number in the regular set, “Johnny Too Bad,” a Slickers cover. “We’re taking you way back,” Hassan said in his low, raspy voice, then led the vocals, improvised dance moves and antics, hooted and mobilized the whole band to leave their usual spots and interact on stage with musical mini-solos and a vocal duet between Hassan and G. At the end, Hassan fist bumped a saxophonist and returned to the congas.
Facing a now-galvanized audience, Campbell said, “I think you know what’s coming” to introduce the band’s signature reggae cover of Neil Diamond’s “Red, Red Wine,” replete with a strong reggae beat and G’s reggae vocals.
“You sure are fine, Albany,” G shouted at the end, flashing a peace sign before the band left the stage.
G returned a few minutes later with an improvised monologue and a call to “light this place up like a Christmas tree for the band members we’ve lost,” to which the audience responded by lifting lit phones.
G stretched the segment by leading the crowd in an echoed chant after noting, “Robbie Campbell just popped a bottle of champagne. He likes to take his time, you know.
“If you wanna hear more…if you really want to get down, scream!” he continued, whereupon the band returned to the stage for three encores, including, “Food for Thought,” the “first record we ever made 45 years ago,” per Campbell; “Kingston Town” which featured a long instrumental interlude on the WX7 by Meredith, and Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love” with audience participation.
UB40 thanked Albany, and the crowd at Albany’s Palace Theatre showed their appreciation for UB40’s musical balm. Thursday night, Sept. 11, music showed that it can heal, at least temporarily, in troubled times.
UB40 Setlist: Here I Am (Come and Take Me) (Al Green cover), Maybe Tomorrow (The Jacksons cover), Homely Girl (The Chi-Lites cover), Sing Our Own Song, One in Ten, Home, You Don’t Call Anymore, Many Rivers to Cross (Jimmy Cliff cover), Gimme Little Sign (Brenton Wood cover), Higher Ground, The Way You Do the Things You Do (The Temptations cover), I’ll Be Your Baby, Cherry Oh Baby (Eric Donaldson cover), Johnny Too Bad (The Slickers cover), Red, Red Wine (Neil Diamond cover)
Encore: Food for Thought, Kingston Town (Lord Creator cover), Can’t Help Falling in Love (Elvis Presley cover)
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