The Selecter are hitting the West Coast this Fall to play 10 shows with Special Guest and DJ Rhoda Dakar. The band will be playing an extended, hit-rich set with some added live favourites and surprises. They will also be joined for a few songs by vocalist Rhoda Dakar who will also play a DJ Set to open the nights.   The Selecter is led by their iconic frontwoman Pauline Black and co-fronted by original member Arthur ‘Gaps’ Hendrickson. Pauline Black is one of very few women in the 2-Tone scene - the original Rude Girl she is often referred to as the Queen of Ska.   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 most recently toured the US last Summer with Rancid and Dropkick Murphys and Pauline Black toured in Latin America as a special guest with Damon Albarn’s Gorillaz.  In October 2017 The Selecter released their studio full-length Daylight – their most urgent, politically engaged and purely uplifting record since the days of Too Much Pressure and Celebrate The Bullet.  Not only a crucial figure in the music community, Black is also a published author, gifted actress, and a celebrated style icon – earlier this year VOGUE featured Duro Olowu’s new Pauline Black-inspired fashion line.   Rhoda Dakar’s career began as lead vocalist with all-woman 2-Tone band The Bodysnatchers who toured with The Selecter. The Bodysnatchers first single was double A-side "Let's Do Rocksteady" with "Ruder Than You". Rhoda also later sang and collaborated with The Specials.   2-Tone was a crucial multi-racial, multi-cultural explosion borne out of Coventry and the Midlands that remade British pop from 1979 onwards. Although 2-Tone's commercial appeal was largely limited to Europe, it did influence the North American ska punk scene and has been cited by a variety of artists from No Doubt to Madonna as being influential to their music.   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.  

Rhoda Dakar made her first public performance at the age of 9. Growing up  opposite the Ram Jam Club in Brixton, with a father who was a Jazz Singer and Actor, Rhoda immersed herself in music from a young age. She had front row seats for David Bowie's Aladdin Sane Tour at the Lewisham Odeon in 1973 and saw the debut UK show from The New York Dolls the same year. She hung out with the "Bromley Contingent" in the Punk boom and was close friends with Cook & Jones from The Sex Pistols. After being introduced to Nicky Summers by Shane MacGowan, Rhoda joined The Bodysnatchers as lead vocalist. After only a few concerts the band were signed to 2-Tone Records and released their debut single "Let's Do Rock Steady" - a cover of the Dandy Livingstone song. The Bodysnatchers supported The Specials, Toots and the Maytals and The Selecter before splitting in 1980. Rhoda Dakar featured on the "More Specials" album by The Specials and then released "The Boiler" single billed as Rhoda with The Special A.K.A. featuring Nicky Summers. Rhoda joined The Special A.K.A. for 1984's "In The Studio" album where she co-wrote the Elvis Costello produced "Free Nelson Mandela" single. After guesting with Dr. Robert and Madness (on their "The Liberty of Norton Folgate" album in 2009) Rhoda recorded the "lost" album by The Bodysnatchers in 2014 billed as "Rhoda Dakar sings the Bodysnatchers".