Live Review: The Specials – The Protest Tour – Roundhouse

The Specials are no strangers to Camden Town and their return to the iconic location was always going to draw a crowd. Hosting 2 nights at The Roundhouse is no easy feat yet tickets flew off the shelves as soon as they were available. The Coventry based ska band are rarely disappointing when they return to London and here’s hoping they can pull off another spectacular night of music. Here are my thoughts on The Specials Thursday night performance at the Roundhouse.

The Specials took to the stage and went straight in with a new song off their upcoming album, ‘Protests Songs 1924-2012’, titled ‘Freedom Highway’. It was an admittedly slow start that didn’t really pick up as the band cruised through ‘Rat Race’, ‘Do Nothing’ and ‘Friday Night, Saturday Morning’. Despite having some big songs there, the energy felt off and didn’t quite live up to the expectation that the band are known for.

Following that, fans started to get a bit more invested when ‘Man at C&A’ started and the crowd really got behind the band’s performance of ‘Stereotype’. In terms of the band’s presence on stage, well… The Specials aren’t particularly known for being the liveliest bunch and that was made quite clear throughout the set. ‘International Jet Set’, ‘Breaking Point’ and ‘Get Up, Stand Up’ went by without really making an impact while ‘Vote For Me’ seemed to be liked by half the crowd and the other half must have only been there for the hits.

Personally, I felt that the show was dragging and it just didn’t have that sort of oomph I’ve come to love from seeing The Specials. Luckily, the turning point was right around the corner. ‘The Lunatics (Have Taken Over The Asylum)’ saw more energy come from the crowd which continued on into the unifying ‘Doesn’t Make It Alright’. Musically, the band sounded crisp and professional which is all you can ask for really. The reaction to ‘Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Us Around’ was mixed with some fans embracing the track and others being completely disinterested.

‘A Message To You Rudy’ was up next and this was the type of energy I was expecting from the off. The floor was jumping and people were singing happily back at the band. The Specials saved their best for last dropping hit after hit. ‘Nite Klub’, ‘Too Much Too Young’ and ‘Gangsters’ all had the crowd parting like it was the 80s again before the band launched the energetic ‘Monkey Man’ which had every single person dancing.

As for the band’s Encore, the first song really didn’t sit well with me, ‘Fuck All The Perfect People’ is on the band’s upcoming album but has not yet been released, so unless you had heard the original, you had no idea what this song was. Thankfully this was followed by ‘Ghost Town’ which had the crowd bellowing the words back at the band before everyone sang in unison during the final track ‘You’re Wondering Now’.

Overall it was an average night from the ska band that really didn’t live up to what I had hoped to see. Maybe it’s due to the lack of touring due to the pandemic however, the band seemed very disinterested at times and the energy level they gave off was nothing like what they used to. It’s the first time I’ve seen them where I’ve seen fans not dancing for the majority of the set and that’s a real shame. Hopefully, things improve the more the band get into the swing of things but only time will tell.