The Daily Swarm

Times UK:

Surprise guests are a Bestival tradition, and this year the organisers excelled themselves with Jones and a reconstituted lineup of ska-pop veterans the Specials. Newly reunited with singer Terry Hall, the band played a bouncy and rapturously received greatest hits set.

NME:

The fancy dress theme 30,000 Freaks Under The Sea worked a treat and despite the mud thousands turned out in full underwater regalia, although Terry said from the stage “I’ve waited 27 years to play again to a field full of pink prawns!”

Marco on the Bass:

From what I can gather, Dammers was not told about the show yesterday and was not invited to secret rehearsals the other 6 members of the band held to prepare for it. This follows a war of words between Dammers and Terry Hall’s manager that I posted about in July. In fact, its possible that Dammers took his complaints about being left out to The Specials.com community pages over the last few days and posted under a variety of aliases. I was able to read a few of the posts before they were deleted by the moderators. All in all they struck me as very angry and bitter and seemed to focus their vitriol at Terry Hall and his manager in particular with an emphasis on greed driving the reunion and that 6 alone without Jerry were not The Specials. That is likely why the band will not perform as The Specials if the reunion moves forward as expected.

Roddy Radiation:

Even tho me and Brad + Nevelle wanted Jerry on board i dont think we would of got passed the third rehearsal somehow.. Jerry cleverman tho he is ,has always had some strange idears. At the last rehearsal that only 4 of us turned up at he said he wanted to play the old stuff half the tempo of the original recordings and proceeded to programe his very old battered drum machine.. We played “Stereotype” and by the end of the song my head was almost touching my guitar (i was playing sitting down) i felt like all the pain and bad memorys had come back to haunt me once again.. I dont think the Specials would be even considering giging if we had the seven together, it would of dragged on until next year with fewer and fewer members turning up.. Sad but im affraid very true*

EARLIER:

The Specials reunion in 2008…Terry Hall: ‘You do it with dignity or don’t do it at all’