Three quality acts for only £5 on a windy Thursday night in Bournemouth, how could any one refuse. Lewis Hawkins has put together another fantastic night of ska music. After the very successful Bad Manners gig at the same venue last month many ska fans were back for more of the same.

2 Tonic are 7 guys that make one hell of a sound  Ralfy Cook (vocals), Simon Williams (bass guitar), Keith Western (drums), Liam Dixon (keyboards), VJ Burner (guitar), Paul Chaffers (Tenor Sax) and Jonno Clarke (Baritone Sax). At 1st they seem like a great ska covers band who play classic tracks by the likes of The Specials, Bad Manners and Madness.

However there a few of their own self penned tracks mixed in with the covers and they are really good sounding songs. One of their newest tackles the tough subject of the war in Iraq  "Under the desert Sun" which still has the great Ska sound. The band have their latest cd for sale called "Factory Yarns" go to www.two-tonic.co.uk  for more information. 2-Tonic went down very well and got the Bournemouth crowd dancing very early on. I'm sure The Beat were quite worried that their support band nearly blew them off the stage.

Next up Lewis came on looking like a taller thinner version of Alexi Sale, his routine is now famous throughout pubs and clubs in Dorset and Hampshire. His karaoke style sing-a-long to tracks which come under the banner of "The Sound of the Suburbs". Songs from the 70's/ 80's includes bands such as Sham 69, The Jam, The Buzzcocks and other similar new wave,punk and Ska material. The audience enjoy the sing a long and join in with Lewis. 

www.thesoundofthesuburbs.com 

The Beat have played in the area before and for the lucky few who saw the gig they were treated to a great show. I'm sure the few who were at the gig at Mr Kyps in December are here tonight for more of the same.

The line-up for tonight's show was Rankin Roger (vocals), Rankin Junior (vocals), Everett Morton (drums), Blockhead (keyboards), Andy Pearson (bass), Neil Deathridge (guitar) and Mark Hamilton (sax).

They started with a great opener "Stand down Margaret" a song written about former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, the words were changed for the chorus to "Stand down Tony" making reference to current Prime Minister Tony Blair. "Tears of a clown" and "Ranking full stop" came in quick succession  and all the crowd were up on their feet dancing. "Rock the casbah" a Clash cover was played as a tribute to the late great Joe Strummer.

Hits "Too nice to talk too", "Doors of your heart" and "Mirror in the bathroom" were all played to the great delight of the Bournemouth audience.

During the night Ranking Roger and his son Ranking Junior had a great rapport with the audience, even getting a couple of members up on stage dancing to the last song "Jackpot". As the band left the stage many people came up to the front of the stage to shake the band members hands to congratulate them on a fantastic show. 

www.twistandcrawl.com