The Specials – Little Hurricane – at The Roseland Theatre – Portland, OR

Hell yes, the Specials have come to Portland! Even for a Tuesday night, rude boys and girls of all ages came out of the woodworks to see this this legendary band grace stumptown. The Roseland Theater, an old mainstay of Portland that’s charming on the outside and smells of musty, sweaty concerts in years gone by on the inside, was host to the exciting occasion.

The opening act tonight was Little Hurricane, a San Diego based band.  The handsome twosome had the crowd swooning with their gritty, blues-infused Rock n’ Roll sound.

Everyone seemed to be giddy with anticipation, including of a couple of dudes who decided to use each other’s face as punching bags while waiting (impatiently) for the Specials to come on.

As the Specials took the stage they were greeted by a sea of people on the floor level, and packed like sardines in the balcony. As if no time had gone by at all since their first record was pressed, they sound absolutely incredible. They played a long set with most of the standards including Concrete Jungle; Friday Night, Saturday Morning; Gangsters; Too Much Too Young; Rat Race and Nite Klub.

They paused only briefly in between songs to make the occasional wise crack with Terry Hall saying at one point that Portland is “gloomy.” When someone in the crowd asked him, “Isn’t it just like London?!” the candid Hall quipped “Yeah, but without the charm.”

Lynval and Roddy with their energetic stage presence, danced non-stop across the stage, egging on the crowd throughout the show. Kids were dancing like crazy, and later Lynval dedicated the song "A Message to You Rudy" to a young little Rude Boy in the crowd.

The band did two encores to end the night, with Ghost Town and You’re Wondering Now. It was the perfect end to an amazing show that left the crowd sweaty, happy mess.

 

 

            More photos of the show can be seen HERE

-Dani Grrrl-
Big Wheel Contributor

 

 

 

 

 

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