Legendary 2-Tone group The bEAT led by vocalist Dave Wakeling have announced a 20 date UK tour.
Starting on 26th May at the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill, the tour includes a hometown show on 12th June at the Town Hall in Birmingham, the London Roundhouse on 16th June, before concluding at the Great Hall in Cardiff on 30th June. Special guest on the tour will be Bow Wow Wow with Annabella.
“Really looking forward to our UK tour, after last years sold out run. It was great to see so many friends again after the pandemic, and to dance some of that good old Two Tone Love and Unity together! These are testing times, connection and community are a great comfort, and so it will be great to see you this summer.
A special bonus to be touring with Annabella and Bow Wow Wow; quite by accident, we will be celebrating a US tour we did together 40 years ago, and she still sounds great nowadays
A chance to thrill in the moment while also taking a stroll down memory lane, you can even dance like a teenager if you want to, till your knees remind you in the morning! See you there, Love, Dave x”
– Dave Wakeling.
The bEAT formed in 1979 and released their debut single, an infectious cover of the Smokey Robinson classic ‘Tears of A Clown’ on 2-Tone Records, which went straight into the UK national charts at #6. Along with their contemporaries The Specials, Madness and The Selecter, The bEAT became an overnight sensation. Over the course of the next five years The bEAT released three studio albums ‘I Just Can’t Stop It’, ‘Wha’appen’ and ‘Special Beat Service’ and enjoyed a series of classic hit singles between 1979-1983 such as ‘Mirror in the Bathroom’, ‘Best Friend’, ‘Can’t Get Used to Losing You’, ‘Hands Off…She’s Mine’, ‘Too Nice To Talk To’, ‘Drowning’, ‘Doors of your Heart’, ‘Save it for Later’, ‘I Confess’, ‘Stand Down Margaret’ and ‘Twist and Crawl’.
The bEAT have toured the world alongside artists such as The Clash, The Police, The Specials, The Pretenders, REM, Talking Heads and David Bowie, and they continue to do so today selling out their last UK tour in 2022.
The bEAT UK 2023 shows in full
May
Fri 26th Del La Warr Pavillion Bexhill
Sat 27th The Great Wall Gillingham
Tue 30th Hanger 34 Liverpool
June
The 1st Engine Shed Lincoln
Fri 2nd Becket University Leeds
Sat 3rd O2 Ritz Manchester
Sun 4th Epic Studios Norwich
Wed 7th Queens Hall Edinburgh
Thu 8th Boiler Shop Newcastle
Fri 9th Barrowlands Glasgow
Mon 12th Town Hall Birmingham
Wed 14th O2 Academy Bournemouth
Fri 16th Roundhouse London
Mon 19th Roadmender Northampton
Wed 21th Junction Cambridge
Thu 22ndHMV Empire Coventry
Fri 23rd Rock City Nottingham
Wed 28th G Live Guilford
Thu 29th The Forum Bath
Fri 30th The Great Hall Cardiff
Get tickets for the 2023 UK Tour here for one of the most popular and influential bands of the 2-Tone Ska movement – https://www.seetickets.com/tour/the-beat-bow-wow-wow
