Smudge. Bad Manners ruled! They were so great. We popped into a bar next door to the venue before the show and got a chance to hang out with Buster and Steve (their drummer). My sister bought Buster a shot, which he declined (doesn't do them anymore) so Steve drank it. Buster looked just fine -- was wearing a faux fur cheetah suit with some kind of sports jersey under it. (Dive, Steve lives near KC, so we had a nice chat about some of the old venues there and in Lawrence. Sad news about the Grand Emporium -- all of the posters are gone, now a "posh" lounge type atmosphere.)
Steve had his hands all taped up with black electrical tape -- kind of cool and retro. He was in top form too last night -- really banged them well. He and I starting talking about gear, of course. He plays a really nice set of DWs at home, but didn't want to tour with them so that they didn't get all banged up. The drummer for English Beat wanted to charge him $60 a show to play on his kit (sheesh), so instead, Steve bought his touring kit on Craig's list for ~$200. The night before last, someone stole all of his stands, so he had to find new ones before last night's show. Too bad he didn't know to post on this forum, I have an extra set sitting in my drum room that I've been trying to sell.
Their approach to touring is really guerilla, old-school. We saw their RV parked across the street from the venue -- no comparison to the high tech touring busses we saw last year. I guess today is an off day for them, so they are hanging out in St. Pete for the day.
Bottom line on the show -- Bad Manners should have headlined. The English Beat seemed to only have one original member. They played well, but certainly the crowd was there for Bad Manners, who did not disappoint. What did disappoint was that the EB played some General Public songs, namely Tenderness, which is one that I hoped never to hear again in my life due to an old college roommate who loved them TOO MUCH. On a side note, Buster has an, um...shockingly large and long tongue, which he, um...displays rhythmically during their songs. My sister's friend said that he was the Gene Simmons of SKA, but I would say that was understating the matter.