From the Caribbean to Coventry: Plotting the Rise of 2Tone @ Barbican Library

"Do you remember the good old days before the ghost town? We danced and sang, and the music played in a de boomtown." 'Ghost Town' by The Specials

Join us at the Plotting the Rise of 2Tone exhibition at the Barbican Library:
The exhibition is a journey that starts in France and Belgium at the time of the Great War and ends in 1980s Coventry. It explores the hugely positive influences on British youth culture that Caribbean immigration has brought, and continues to bring to the United Kingdom. Using music genres and fashion as the touch points the show will include architecture, art and literature as well as direct contributions from fans and 'faces' alike.

2 Tone Records & ska movement:
In several British cities, the late 1970s combination of economic turmoil and art school punks resulted in a generation of eccentric talent. In Coventry, the outcome was 2 Tone, a mostly white take on ska, the music brought to Britain by Jamaican immigrants in the mid-1960s and favoured by English mods.

2 Tone Records began in Coventry in 1979 and peaked two years later, when the Specials' era-defining Ghost Town went to No 1 as riots blazed through a recession-hit UK. The label launched the Specials, the Selecter, Madness and the Beat (among others), and also named the movement: dance crazy, sharp-suited, political, multi-racial ska that reverberates to this day. Read more here and listen here.

MEETUP FEE: £1 payable in advance via PayPal
If you do not have PayPal, please message the event organiser to say that you are coming. They will add you to the event and you can pay the fee on the day.

MEET DETAILS:
From 1.30pm: MEET IN BARBICAN KITCHEN
Meet in the Barbican Kitchen cafe on the ground floor.

2.00pm: ENTER THE EXHIBITION
In Barbican Library, on Level 2.

3.30pm - Late: PUB SOCIAL (optional)
All Bar One, 127 Finsbury Pavement, EC2A 1NS. We'll head to a nearby pub for a social chit-chat over food & drinks.

TICKETS:
Admission is free and no booking is required.

++ Additional Information ++
Getting There
Tube stations: Barbican, St Paul’s, Farringdon, Moorgate
Train stations: Farringdon, Liverpool Street
Buses: 153, 4, 56

WhatsApp Group for Pre-Visit Discussion & Live-Location On The Day
WhatsApp group link here

Please join the event WhatsApp group for live updates and to help you find the group. Joining this WhatsApp group will make your phone number visible to other members in the group.

PLEASE NOTE:
LoMAZ events are run by volunteers. We have an attendee limit to help the host manage the event, and because we prefer a smaller, friendlier group. With this in mind, please do change your RSVP as soon as possible if you can no longer attend, to give someone else the chance to be there. Thanks.

Thank you for your interest in the group & being part of LoMAZ.

Image credit: Barbican website