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The Specials Confirm North American Tour Dates

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by David J. Prince, N.Y.  |   February 03, 2010 11:11 EST
(Photo by Andy Sheppard/Redferns)

The Specials have confirmed the dates for the reunited British band's first North American tour in nearly 30 years. In addition to playing a top spot at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival, the band will play club dates in Los Angeles, Toronto, and New York in April.

As previously reported, The Specials will kick off the dates with an appearance on NBC's "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" on Apr. 13. The band will also perform at Club Nokia in Los Angeles on Apr. 15, Toronto's Sound Academy on Apr. 19 and Terminal 5 in New York on April 21. Tickets for the Toronto show go on sale Thursday (Feb. 4), while the New York show goes on sale Friday. Los Angeles tickets are expected to go on sale the following week.

The Specials played a sold-out 30th anniversary tour of U.K. clubs in May 2009, marking the first time that the six members of the ska band, including singer Terry Hall, had performed a full set together since a Boston, Mass. show in 1981. Founding member, keyboardist Jerry Dammers, is not participating in the reunion.

Subsequently, the group performed in front of more than 100,000 people at the 2009 Glastonbury Festival, played the Summer Sonic Festival in Japan, toured Australia and New Zealand for the first time ever and did a second sold-out U.K. jaunt in November.

A live DVD, shot at the band's Wolverhampton Civic Hall show on Nov. 10 by director Lindy Heymann, will be released on Mar. 1.

The Specials are also performing a benefit concert for the U.K.'s Teenage Cancer Trust at London's Royal Albert Hall on Mar. 29. The band is also set to receive the Outstanding Contribution To Music Award at this year's NME Awards later on Feb. 23.

The Specials formed in 1977 in Coventry, England, and its then-unheard-of mix of punk rock, Jamaican rhythms, social and political commentary and pop sensibilities proved a huge sensation in the U.K. and spawned an entire youth subculture that encompassed both music and fashion. Between 1979 and 1981, the group scored seven consecutive top 10 singles in the U.K., including the No. 1s "Too Much Too Young" and "Ghost Town."

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