English Beat/Bad Manners '09 US Tour

I'm still trying to figure out if I'm going to try to catch the English Beat/Bad Manners show at Irving Plaza this coming Friday (I may have a family event that evening which will make the whole matter moot). Neither of them is touring in support of a new release, so they're working the nostalgia tip, which certainly isn't the worst thing in the world (but it's nice to see bands continue to move forward musically, i.e.: write and record some new material!). And I've seen excellent shows by past incarnations of each of these acts.

Having said all that, a review like this in the Miami New Times makes me want to go...

(Side rant: I've seen a fair amount of press for the "Ska is Dead" and English Beat/Bad Manners tours and it depresses me how many mainstream music writers still feel the need to define ska and its history. Ska became big enough in the US in the late 90s--even if the ska label was incorrectly associated with bands like Sugar Ray or Smashmouth--that we shouldn't have to rehash the ska-came-before-reggae-Skatalites-Prince Buster-2 Tone-Specials-Madness-Selecter-English Beat thing...I know Americans can be slow on the cultural uptake, but this is ridiculous. Don't spoon feed them--make 'em work for it! If they don't know what something is, they should freaking look it up on the web or in a book! Knowledge is power!)