The Specials guitarist Roddy wows fans in pub gig
He's played in front of 80,000 in London's Hyde Park and up to 130,000 on a Denmark stage – but for his latest gig The Specials guitarist, Roddy Radiation Byers, just happened to perform for 70 people at a Black Country boozer.
The founder member of the ska band performed with his group Skabilly Rebels at Brierley Hill pub Brockmoor House as a last warm-up gig before going back on tour to the USA with The Specials next month and around the UK in May.
The set featured many of the hits made famous by the Coventry-based group, including Rat Race, Concrete Jungle and Hey Little Rich Girl. The gig at the pub in Brockmoor was arranged through friend Ed Taylor who was also performing with his group Double Bass on the night.
Roddy said: "Ed is an old friend and he just offered us a gig and I haven't got any gigs before I go to the states with The Specials so I would rather be playing at the Brockmoor House than sitting at home. We've played in front of 130,000-people crowds in Denmark but you can only see the first hundred people anyway so numbers don't really make much difference, in fact
I get more nervous playing to these kinds of gigs than playing to thousands of people because you can almost smell them." The 57-year-old said he enjoys playing to a Black Country audience, adding: "I still live in Coventry so it is handy."
Organiser Ed said: "I asked him to do a gig in Kidderminster last year and we went along and did that and we kept in touch and I asked about doing this place and he had a look at what dates before The Specials and said yes."
