English Beat fans get word on streets, butts in seats
| Wednesday, Mar 10 2010 03:04 AM
Last Updated Wednesday, Mar 10 2010 03:04 PM
GO & DO
What: The English Beat
When: 9 p.m. Friday
Where: Fishlips, 1517 18th St.
Admission: $17
If there's one thing English Beat front man Dave Wakeling knows, it's his fans.
"I can always tell when it's about 20 'til or a quarter 'til the hour because people will start looking at their watches and deciding how much more they'll need to pay the babysitter," he joked.
The quintessential ska band English Beat, known for its message of peace and racial unity, was born in the U.K., but has been based in Los Angeles for more than 20 years.
After a long break, Wakeling (who also formed General Public in the mid-'80s) reformed the band and it has been touring nationwide for the past three years, playing to clubs full of fortysomethings who still know all the words to all the songs and still dance like they're 16.
A club-packing band that hasn't released any new music in two decades is interesting enough, but the real story lies in how English Beat does it -- by enlisting those fans Wakeling knows so well. Via Facebook and MySpace, the band invites fans to join the English Beat Street Team. Members hang posters and tell their friends about upcoming shows in exchange for free tickets and an invitation to the sound check.
After a recent sound check in Charlotte, N.C., Wakeling talked about the band's Street Team success, the enduring quality of his lyrics, and building the next generation of Beat fans.
What got you going as far as fan involvement and the Street Teams and the social networking?
Wakeling: It came about in a very interesting way. We'd go to do a show and be outside the venue and some guy would walk by and say, "Oh, you're playing. I didn't know. You're my favorite group. When did you get back together?" And I'd say, "Well, this is the third time we've played here in two and a half years." And he'd say "I had no idea." And I realized to a lot of our fans, particularly, they don't use the regular media to see what bands are on. It's become quite personal, people dovetail their own information sources, so we thought "we've got to try and find out how to get the information to where they actually are." So, we hit upon this idea of a Street Team to go hang fliers wherever Beat fans are hanging, and it's had an amazing effect.
Do you feel like you're bringing in younger fans?
Wakeling: We have a ton of younger fans. They're probably the single most enthusiastic set.
Well, you're speaking their language.
Wakeling: Yes. One chap, who is 13, got his dad involved and took video while he was out sticking up posters everywhere. Unfortunately, it wasn't an all-ages show, so we had him stand on the side of the stage by the soundboard. He was on the crew. He was the assistant soundman.
Are you surprised at the timelessness of your music?
Wakeling: Well, you write them (songs) to try and sort out problems you're going through. You don't even know that anybody else is going to hear it. So, the fact that it resonated with somebody else 20-odd years ago to the point where they're still fond of it, it really is the greatest compliment a troubadour can have.
There's lot of great stuff out there, so you really can't beat someone saying that your lyrics meant so much to them for 30 years. It always floors me, actually.
What's your favorite song?
Wakeling: "Save it for Later" is still my favorite because it's so easy to play and it's hypnotic and it always works terrifically on the crowd. And I wrote it when I was a teenager, so I have a very special affinity toward it. It was my "trying to grow up" song. And I still sing it! On that happy note... (Wakeling heads to the tour bus.)
