The Specials Hit Liverpool

As the Specials, now well into their third decade as a band, launch into opener ‘Do the Dog’ at the Olympia, a boisterous crowd of students and ageing skinheads are thrown into an joyful frenzy that rarely lets up throughout the band’s 90 minute set.

It’s a testament to Jerry Dammers and Co.’s songwriting ability that they can draw a setlist entirely of anthems from only two albums and a handful of singles, with every song prompting an impassioned sing-along.

The Specials grace the stage in the Olympia

The criminally underused Liverpool Olympia is the perfect venue in the perfect city for a band like the Specials. Situated in the slightly more run-down northern area of Liverpool, away from the 21^st century soullessness of Liverpool One, the Olympia is an icon of fading artistic grandeur in an area decimated by the Conservatives first under Thatcher and now increasingly under the coalition.

The lyrics of a song like ‘Ghost Town’ are as fitting in 2013 Liverpool as they were when they were written in 1981 Coventry.

As the band hurtle through classics like ‘Dawning of a New Era’, ‘Rat Race’ and ‘Gangsters’, it’s not so hard to imagine its 1981 all over again, that is if you’re willing to overlook a certain quantity of beer-bellies and the odd haircut that’s more pattern baldness than skinhead.

There’s a nostalgic undertone to the evening, as those that grew up at the band’s peak re-live their glory days, and the modern, ‘This is England’ inspired generation get to share an era they feel they might have been better suited to.

The Specials’ socially aware lyrics still ring true today

The crowd blends surprisingly well, as the older generation tell drunken anecdotes of how ‘they were there’ and the youth bring an energy that creates a raucous atmosphere.

After a few slower tracks, which provide a welcome breather for those members of the audience whose lungs ain’t what they used to be, the Specials again launch into the bona fide hits.

Ghost Town, and Nite Klub re-energise the crowd, and the band’s biggest hit, their iconic version of ‘A Message to You Rudy’ is the highlight of the set, which sees even the seated members of the audience clearly regretting their decision and standing up for a skank.

For the encore, the band return with a bizarre version of Bob Dylan’s ‘Maggie’s Farm’, a slightly meandering number, and perhaps the only low point of the set.

However, a last smattering of classics and traditional set closer ‘You’re Wondering Now’ leaves the now ludicrously drunk and sweaty crowd on a high.

Live the Specials have provided the proof, if it be needed, that they are just as important for today’s youth as they were for those of the 1980s.

With a distinct lack of current, socially aware guitar-based music that tackles issues of economic hopelessness and prejudice against youth, race and class that is once again a national concern, it’s down to the Specials to provide the protest songs this generation so desperately needs.

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