Live Review: Neville Staple – The Readipop Festival

Former Specials and Fun Boy Three co-front man/toaster Neville Staple along with his water tight band dodge the early evening showers to deliver a hit packed, seventy minute smile filled set – By Guy Shankland. Neville looks and sounds in fine fettle as he opens with ‘Play A Song’ from his excellent ‘Ska Crazy’ album. ’Little Bitch’ gets the “One -Two” sing-a-long treatment before ‘Pressure Drop’ and the timeless ‘Johnny To Bad’ get the crowd swayin ‘N’ Skankin. ‘A Message To You Rudy’, ‘Do The Dog’ and a FBT double of ‘Farmyard Connection’ plus the politically pertinent ‘The Lunatics Have Taken Over The Asylum’ all show the quality in depth of the extensive back catalogue at Neville’s live disposal. A performance as good as this deserves a much bigger audience than the one in front of him tonight, but being the consummate professional and a man who’s been round the gig block on numerous occasions he takes it all in his impressive stride and gives it the full one hundred percent. As encores go ‘Ghost Town’, ‘Too Hot’ along with ‘You’re Wondering Now’ is a pretty special trio and they are all dispatched with Sugary Staple style. A blistering ‘Guns Of Navarone’ sends the iconic singer and his superb band stage left to enthusiastic applause. Almost four decades on the 2-Tone/Ska sound continues to hit the musical sweet spot and Neville Staple is still very much the order of the day.