Off piste travelling;

Well I’m up in Middlesbrough in the north of England not to DJ, but to work on the first weekend in October 2009. We are in ‘Doc Browns’ pub watching a not bad but not terrible pub rock band for an hour drinking the local murky ale with my work mates when I notice a number of people outside in Fred Perry shirts and braces; so I ask them – how come some skins and mods are watching a lame pub rock band?

They tell me there is a ska night upstairs! We hadn’t even noticed. The kids look seriously younger than the 2-tone 45”s in my collection but I pursue

My workmates come up briefly (to the half empty room) and leave after viewing the sight of  two dozen middle aged skinhead men and women dressed to the nines. But I decide to stay.

After talking to Carl ‘Dr Lester’ who assisted Toots and The Maytals on a couple of tours, we find a bond in both ska music and industry shenanigans. Despite my distinctly non-skinhead appearance, we all get down to a mix of ska, Blue Beat and ‘skinhead classics’.

Initially the absence of any black faces, and abundance of ’Skinhead’ tattooed-on thick necks, Harrington’s, Cromby jackets, check shirts is unfamiliar and potentially threatening to longhaired London me, but I realise this is an acceptant group – welcoming anyone who enjoys the music as much – or more than – they do! To be honest, tonight I’m the freak.

A couple of hours dancing in the thick of it to some rarer tracks on crisp first issue 45’s draws sweat up the backs of all the dancers.

Even ‘Pretty Vacant’ by the Sex Pistols is played; an unusual choice, and I am told the first time in years a track like that has been played. But the audience appreciate and not long before we are on a version excursion of ‘Carry go bring come’ (Hinds and Millie) and ‘Ivan Hitler the conquerer’ and ‘Smooths and Sorts’ (Collins and Perry).

Some shared cigarettes in the toilets and a few more pints of Tiger bitter make the night even more adolescent for us