Brighton Ska Festival

It’s perhaps unclear what constitutes a festival, but a burger stand is a prerequisite. Add somewhat shambolic organisation, apparent backstage issues and a lot of pork pie hats and maybe this was a ska festival. The Detonators certainly got the crowd jumping, while Jerry Dammers of The Specials mixed lovers’ rock and bluebeat in a truncated DJ set which ended with announcements that Al Capone was another no-show. The Beat finally hit the stage, with Ranking Roger more than ably supported by Murphy, ‘Ranking’ Jnr: plainly one to watch. A decent, if not house-shaking, end to a reasonable day.

Concorde 2, 13 May 2012

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