Plate 0′ Shrimp

I saw the English Beat at the Avalon nightclub in Santa Clara for the second time there, and the sixth time anywhere. Well, one of the times was just Dave Wakeling, but that kinda counts, because he is now touring as the English Beat, and he it is only Dave Wakeling with a backup band playing English Beat songs.  It was a great show though- they played all of the hits, everybody danced, and only one overweight middle aged man lost his temper and tried to fight somebody for bumping in to him in the pit.

The first time I saw the English Beat was at their first American tour, opening for the Talking Head. We saw them at the Warfield theater in San Francisco, and it was one of the best shows I have ever seen.  The second time was from a lawn seat at the Shoreline for their Special Beat Service tour, and I might as well have been watching it on a very distant TV set.  The third time, was Dave Wakeling with a back-up band at Bay Meadows horse race track. They played 3 songs and then took a break so people could watch the horse race. No drummer either, just a drum maching. During one of the races I asked the bass player if they could play “Two Swords” and he said he didn’t know it. $1 hot dogs, and $2 beers though!