80s Craze: English Beat, Fixx, Alarm Hit the 9:30 Club

The English Beat, The Alarm, the Fixx, 9:30 Club, Washington D.C.

If these bands were beer:
The Alarm: Duvel (all-around mighty fine)
The Fixx: Amstel Light poured quickly (mediocre, with entirely too much head)
The English Beat: IPA (tasty and hoppin')

An "older," yet excited and rambunctious crowd descended upon the 9:30 Club for a night of retro music. The opening band (too good to even have that label), the Alarm, rocked the place. They played a couple songs from their brand new album, Guerilla Tactics, which fit right in with their earlier sound. And, they played a few old standards, including "68 Guns," "Give Me Strength," "Stand," and the power ballad "Spirit of 76." Ironically, given the season, they skipped over "Rain in the Summertime. Still, a great set. Singer Mike Peters was phenomenal at engaging the crowd throughout, jumping around with energy, all smiles.

Then came...the Fixx. With the exception of the radio smash, "One Thing Leads to Another," performed mid-set, this was a somewhat boring and lackluster set. Lead singer Cy Curnin still has a strong voice but he seemed so self-indulgent, as if he forgot an audience was out there, hopping around in his orange sunglasses. Toward the end, when he tried to get the crowd engaged, they weren't having it. They played for nearly an hour, and that was 50 minutes too long.

The English Beat: always a great time. Dave Wakeling with his cohort of horns sounded fantastic, belting out ska tunes and encouraging the crowd to skank, and many did. Their brand of reggae-rock is still refreshing as ever.

Sadly, ClubD and her cohorts got a burst of "eh, we're old, gotta go," and missed the last half of English Beat's set. It undoubtedly touched on some General Public songs but no matter what they played, the crowd probably remained hopping until the last note.