Two bands — formed in the same year (1978) and in the same place (Birmingham, often referred to as England’s “second city) — raised the roof at the Palace Theatre in Albany last Thursday.

Openers the English Beat (actually The Beat; they had to change their name in the United States due to the existence of another band with that moniker) were part of the late-1970s “ska revival" that was headed up by similarly multiracial groups such as Madness, The Specials and The Selecter. Their music fused the energy of punk and the pop smarts of new wave with the frenetic rhythms of Jamaican ska, the precursor to reggae.

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