Specials

 ((Palace; 1,250 capacity; $ 20))

By TROY J. AUGUSTO

But this current lineup, featuring four of the group's founding members and touring for the second time in three years, does manage to capture most of the excitement that was generated when the Specials sparked the "two-tone" revival in the late '70s.
 

Ostensibly supporting the recently issued "Today's Specials" (Virgin) album of cover songs, this 90-minute, sold-out performance instead focused mostly on what the bobbing fans in the pit wanted to hear, specifically, songs from the band's self-titled 1979 album.

Presented by Goldenvoice. Band: Lynval Golding, Neville Staples, Roddy Byers, Horace Panter, Mark Anthony Adams, Adam Birch, Aitch Hyatt. Reviewed July 5, 1996. Granted, this touring version of the Specials isn't exactly the same seminal English ska band that brought laid-back reggae beats and aggressive rock music together in the late '70s -- the most glaring omission here being the continued absence of primary vocalist Terry Hall.

The mid-tempo lament of "Doesn't Make It Alright," the raucous "Dawn of a New Era" and "A Message to You Rudy"-- all from that debut -- were met with approving howls from the crowd, whose members crossed many racial and age lines.

Elements of rockabilly -- courtesy of mod guitarist/vocalist Lynval Golding --'60s AM rock and even some new wave keyboards gave the band a well-rounded concert sound that begins to explain the Specials' longevity.

Remakes from the new album, such as the Clash's "Somebody Got Murdered," slowed down quite noticeably here. Bob Marley's "Simmer Down" and Paul Desmond's jazz nugget "Take Five" were appropriate additions to the band's originals.

The Specials' current single, an odd update of the Monkees' "A Little Bit Me, a Little Bit You," was one of only a couple of stiff offerings. The band also paid tribute, with mixed success, to such old-school ska crews as the Upsetters (a rowdy "Monkeyman") and the Skatalites (stiff show opener "Guns of Navarone").