The Selecter

Due to unforeseen circumstances, The Selecter’s Leeds show will now take place at The Wardrobe on Thu 27th April. All previously purchased tickets will be valid for the new venue and the remaining tickets are available from See, Crash and Jumbo. The Selecter is led by their iconic frontwoman Pauline Black and co-fronted by original member Arthur ‘Gaps’ Hendrickson with original drummer Charley ‘Aitch’ Bembridge. Pauline is one of very few women in the 2-Tone scene - often referred to as the Queen of Ska. She was awarded an OBE in the in the 2022 New Year Honours. Since the return of live music in 2021, the band have been playing festivals and shows in the UK and abroad. They also recently performed one of their most popular hits On My Radio live at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Closing Ceremony in Birmingham which was broadcast worldwide. 2-Tone was a crucial multi-racial, multi-cultural explosion borne out of Coventry and the Midlands that remade British pop from 1979 onwards. The main bands who pioneered the movement were The Selecter, The Beat, The Specials and Madness. The anarchic passion that fuelled Selecter gigs during the original 2-Tone era is still there, except the pair are more driven than ever. Their confidence is sky-high and they’re also writing the best songs of their career, which is saying something given the enduring popularity of hits like “Three Minute Hero,” “Missing Words,” “Too Much Pressure” and “On My Radio.” The Selecter toured extensively to celebrate their 40th Anniversary, and the 40th anniversary of 2-Tone, in 2019 before the pandemic. Then 2021 saw the release of a Too Much Pressure Deluxe Edition 3CD Box Set & Vinyl to celebrate the album’s 40th anniversary. The Deluxe Edition reached #1 in the Official UK Vinyl Album Charts and #1 in the Official UK Independent Album Charts on its release. That was followed in late 2022 with a deluxe reissue of their second album Celebrate the Bullet on LP format and as a 3CD clamshell box set with 20-page booklet featuring bands notes. The Selecter continue to release new music, charting new albums in the UK in the last couple of years, proving that 2-Tone is still as relevant and important as it was 40 years ago. Their new studio album Human Algebra is due for release in April 2023. www.theselecter.net