If a band exists on- and off-again long enough, eventually
it will splinter off into two bands touring under the same name. At least the
Beat, the popular-’80s ska band, was well positioned for the split, since the
group had two vocalists: Dave Wakeling, the Brit-pop crooner, Ranking Roger, the
rastafied crooner. Wakeling now fronts the American version of the Beat, called
the English Beat, which will headline an 8 p.m. show at the Turner Hall
Ballroom tonight, while Roger has carried the Beat torch in the U.K. Opening
for the English Beat tonight is ska-funk favorites the Rx Bandits.
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