The Winning Ticket: The English Beat & Bad Manners

As a way to say thanks to our loyal readers, We Love DC will be giving away a pair of tickets to a 9:30 Club concert to one lucky reader each week. Check back here every Wednesday morning at 9am to find out what tickets we’re giving away and leave a comment for your chance to be the lucky winner!

This weekend DC has a boatload of Ska bands coming to town, so we thought it would be fun to make today Ska Day on We Love DC. To that end our 9:30 Club ticket giveaway this week is for a pair of tickets to see The English Beat and Bad Manners perform at the club this Sunday, August 22nd.

These titans of 2-Tone Ska have been providing rude boys and rude girls with skanking good times for over 30 years in the UK and the US. Bad Manners led by their infamous front-man Buster Bloodvessel are legends in the ska world known for their manic live energy and Buster’s larger than life stage presence. The English Beat (or The Beat) make up one-third of the 2-Tone Ska holy trinity and really should require no introduction to all the proper gangsters out there. Along with The Specials and Madness, The English Beat was one of the biggest Ska bands of the 1980’s. They were hugely successful in the UK and along with Madness and The Specials were responsible for breaking 2-Tone’s sound and style in the US. These days The Beat operate on both sides of “the pond”, but are much more active in the US thanks to the seemingly endless energy of band-leader Dave Wakeling. If you’re sitting there reading this trying to think of a song by The English Beat, allow me to help you: ‘Mirror in the Bathroom’, ‘Hands off, She’s Mine’, and ‘Twist & Crawl’ are just some of the essential 2-Tone hits on their seminal album “Just Can’t Stop It”. Together these two bands are going to put on one hell of a party. So dust off your pork-pie, don your finest threads, strap on those boots, and enter for your chance to be there. I was originally thinking of making this giveaway for Rudies only, but you civilians reading should feel free to take a shot too! (PS- Tune in here at Noon for a Ska bonus giveaway!)

For your chance to win these tickets simply leave a comment on this post using a valid email address between 9am and 4pm today. One entry per email address, please. Tickets for this show are also available through Ticketfly If today doesn’t turn out to be your lucky day, check back here each Wednesday for a chance to win tickets to other great concerts.

For the rules of this giveaway…

Comments will be closed at 4pm and a winner will be randomly selected. The winner will be notified by email. The winner must respond to our email within 24 hours or they will forfeit their tickets and we will pick another winner.

Tickets will be available to the winner at will call at the 9:30 club one hour before doors open on the night of the concert. The tickets must be claimed with a valid ID. The winner must be old enough to attend the specific concert or must have a parent’s permission to enter if he/she is under 18 years old

Michael splits his free time between defending the little guy and championing the underdog. He has been haunting the concert halls, dive bars, and greasy spoons of DC for the last 16 years. His interests include live rock music, researching obscure military/political conflicts, and good hamburgers. He is a friendly grump, has wisdom beyond his years, and is on a life-long quest to attain music nirvana. Follow him on Twitter if you dare!

37 thoughts on “The Winning Ticket: The English Beat & Bad Manners

  1. In England, the “English Beat” was always just called “the Beat.” Just a little trivia for your Wednesday morning.

  2. My one year old perks up when the Beat comes up on my husband’s iPod rotation… she loves some ska!

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  4. I have tickets so can I have two more tickets to give to someone so I can be as cool as you for giving away two tickets. Can we all say hey on the off beat

  5. Never to be confused with Paul Collins’ Beat, the US band, The (English) Beat and Dave Wakeling still put on an amazing show!