Live at the US Festival is a live album and DVD of The English Beat performing live at the US Festivals in 1982 and 1983. British fans know the group as The Beat,
CD Tracks 1-9 were recorded September 3, 1982
CD Tracks 10-17 were recorded May 28, 1983
DVD Tracks 1-12 were recorded September 3, 1982.
DVD Tracks 13-26 were recorded May 28, 1983.
Both festivals were held at the Glen Helen Regional Park in San Bernardino, California.
As someone who listens to music much more than I watch DVDs, I find it irritating that we lose nine tracks on the audio version that we can load into our mp3 players. That said, I think the editors did it sensibly by not duplicating the hits. The DVD has two versions of Mirror In The Bathroom within three songs.
While The Beat broke up in 1983, Ranking Roger joined with members of The Specials to create Special Beat and released a number of live albums.
Songs On The English Beat Live at the US Festival
Disc: 1
1. Twist & Crawl (Sept. 3, 1982)
2. I Confess (Sept. 3, 1982)
3. Doors Of Your Heart Margaret (Sept. 3, 1982)
4. Sugar & Stress (Sept. 3, 1982)
5. Two Swords (Sept. 3, 1982)
6. Hands Off…She’s Mine (Sept. 3, 1982)
7. Save It For Later (Sept. 3, 1982)
8. Too Nice To Talk To (Sept. 3, 1982)
9. Mirror In The Bathroom (Sept. 3, 1982)
10. Jeanette (May 28, 1983)
11. Spar Wid Me (May 28, 1983)
12. Get-A-Job/Stand Down (May 28, 1983)
13. Tears Of A Clown (May 28, 1983)
14. Ackee 1 2 3 (May 28, 1983)
15. Ranking Full Stop (May 28, 1983)
16. Jackpot (May 28, 1983)
Disc: 2 – DVD
1. Twist & Crawl (Sept. 3, 1982)
2. Doors Of Your Heart (Sept. 3, 1982)
3. I Confess (Sept. 3, 1982)
4. Get-A-Job/Stand Down Margaret (Sept. 3, 1982)
5. Sugar & Stress (Sept. 3, 1982)
6. Spar Wid Me (Sept. 3, 1982)
7. Two Swords (Sept. 3, 1982)
8. Hands Off…She s Mine (Sept. 3, 1982)
9. Save It For Later (Sept. 3, 1982)
10. Too Nice To Talk To (Sept. 3, 1982)
11. Mirror In The Bathroom (Sept. 3, 1982)
12. Jackpot (Sept. 3, 1982)
13. Mirror In The Bathroom (May 28, 1983)
14. Doors Of Your Heart (May 28, 1983)
15. Two Swords (May 28, 1983)
16. Jeanette (May 28, 1983)
17. I Confess (May 28, 1983)
18. Spar Wid Me (May 28, 1983)
19. Too Nice To Talk To (May 28, 1983)
20. Get-A-Job/Stand Down Margaret (May 28, 1983)
21. Tears Of A Clown (May 28, 1983)
22. Ackee 1 2 3 (May 28, 1983)
23. Twist & Crawl (May 28, 1983)
24. Ranking Full Stop (May 28, 1983)
25. Save It For Later (May 28, 1983)
26. Jackpot (May 28, 1983)
I was lucky enough to see The Beat perform live twice in the 1980-1981 period and they were terrific.
The best album by The Beat was their first, I Just Can’t Stop It which is a hard hitting two-tone classic. Afterwards they softened their punk edge to create a more relaxed ska sound.
This is good but it’s not the all-out powerful sound that I remember hearing. In my opinion, a top quality live recording from 1980 would be one of the great missing live albums.
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Buying The English Beat Live at the US Festival
It is available from Amazon.com – Amazon.co.uk – iTunes – eBay
These links will help you get to the albums quickly and easily but I recommend that you still search for the best deal.
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