The English Beat - Windsor Hotel, Kirkcaldy

The Kirkcaldy crowd were warmed up by support act Porkpie who served up a fantastic set of ska classics, which The English Beat carried on, opening their set with a cover of Prince Buster’s ‘Rough Rider’ - the first of two songs dedicated to the ska legend who recently passed away.

Lead singer Dave Wakeling is based in America nowadays but his Brummie accent remains as warm as his engaging chat between songs, ably supported by toaster King Schascha, keen to let the crowd know he’s most definitely not Ranking Roger.

The band waste no time delving into their back catalogue of early 80s hits, with Dave, as ever sporting his Vox teardrop guitar, promising to “ruin” a Motown classic before the brilliant cover of ‘Tears Of A Clown’.

The band are full of energy throughout which is more than matched by the crowd who turn ‘Can’t Get Used To Losing You’ into a mass singalong.

But it’s more than just a covers set - if nothing else the gig is a reminder of how many huge hits The Beat had, ‘Hands Off...She’s Mine’ the superb ‘Too Nice To Talk To’ and ‘Stand Down Margaret’ still sound as great as they ever did. There’s also an outing for one of the band’s best. ‘Save It For Later’ the hit-that-never-was, recently covered by fellow Midlanders The Wonder Stuff.

The night comes to a sweat-drenched end with a raucous run through of ‘Mirror In The Bathroom’ to bring to an end another memorable night at the Windsor from a truly great band, brought to town by Rubber Stamp Promotions.