It was with great anticipation that I waited the weeks it took from ordering to this being dropped on the doorstep. 'The Specials Live From The Cathedral', definitively the last album from The Specials, one of the greatest bands to have come out of the UK, is what I am talking about here. With this album the band come full circle from the city's pubs and clubs of the late 1970's to the majestic ruins of Coventry Cathedral in 2019. And this is the bit that really hurts, Gunta and I missed it. She is a Cov girl (with German and Latvian thrown in too!) and our son is christened Rudi ('It's an international name' we told our parents... of course our friends all knew where we were coming from!). I would have given my right arm to be amid the ragged masonry for one of these dates.
The paradox of The Specials is that as the standard bearers of the 2 Tone label and all of the founding principles behind it, they were at times one of the most volatile bands that ever shared a stage! This was seemingly totally at odds with their consistent message of tolerance and unity! If the tensions that led to the demise of the original band in 1981, they were never far from the surface even after they came back together in 2008, after a 27 year absence from our lives. In many ways they just started up again from where they left off! But, this of course is what made The Specials well... special. Songs like 'Concrete Jungle', 'Too Much Too Young' and 'Why?' absorbed that tension and converted it into creative brilliance.
In 2019 The Specials enjoyed their first Number 1 album (whatever that means in this day and age!!) and it is fitting that these cathedral gigs gave the material from that album, 'Encore' a good airing, offering a brilliant counterpoint to the angry punk/Blue Beat mix of the first album. As an aside, to the detractors of 'Encore' who bemoaned the fact that the album was no 'Specials', Terry Hall responded with 'Did they not listen to 'More Specials'?'
On this final recording, Coventry boys Terry and Lynval take the lead on the mike between songs. It is clear that they are revelling on the warm welcome that the band received during these shows. 'This is the first time I've ever dedicated a song to a chip shop.... this is for the Parson's Nose' says Terry before launching into his musical autobiography of his youth in the city, 'Friday Night, Saturday Morning'.
Listening to this, yes I am angry with myself for the fact that we weren't there but I am equally thankful that we had the opportunity to see then a dozen times or so between 2009 and 2021. If the music changed with time the message remained the same, unbendingly so.
Every time I have been to that city and passed the 'Welcome to Coventry' signs I wonder just how much longer it will take before Walt Jabsco will appear on the sign to add his own skankin' welcome!
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