Bath's Komedia plays host to one of the most influential ska bands of all time tomorrow when the venue welcomes The Beat.

Celebrating the current revival in ska and all things 2 Tone, kick-started by the reformed Specials and last year's 30th anniversary celebrations, The Beat visit Bath as part of an extensive UK tour.

The Beat scored hits with tunes such as Mirror In The Bathroom, Save It For Later and I Confess, when 2 Tone was taking over the charts.

Along with contemporaries The Specials, The Selecter and Madness, The Beat were a product of high unemployment and social upheaval in the late '70s.

Ranking Roger, one of the band's vocalists, added a Jamaican vocal flavour to the band's sound with his toasting style.

Ranking Roger said: "In my eyes, our music has always stood for diversity, we are forever incorporating new styles into our music as we move along.

"The Beat wasn't originally meant for everyone, but over the years the music has lived on and earned a certain respect for basically being innocent, brave and honest.

"When the whole 2 Tone movement first kicked off I thought it was good because it gave reggae music a chance to merge with punk. It was the first time.

"None of us had a clue that it would become so big. Most of the 2 Tone bands were politically aware which changed a generation.

"I'm proud of everything we've done because Beat lyrics still make people think and the music is timeless.

"What we sang and wrote about is still relevant, nothing's changed really, we still have all the silly problems we had back then.

"This is why we still play The Beat's music, it is timeless appealing to the future as well as now."

Jamaican saxophonist Saxa added a traditional instrumental sound to Ranking Roger's Caribbean flavours.

Sax, who had played with Prince Buster, Laurel Aitken and Desmond Dekker, joined the band to record their first single, Tears Of A Clown, a cover version of the Motown hit by Smokey Robinson.

After a split in 1983, to pursue other musical projects, the band reformed in 2003 and played a sell-out, one-off gig at the Royal Festival Hall.

"The first gig the Beat ever played was opening up for my band the Dum-Dum Boyz of which I was the drummer," says Ranking Roger.

"We then became really good friends and I became their front man.

"Our current line-up has Ranking Jr in there and Mickey Billingham from Dexy's Midnight Runners and General Public.

"Of course we have the legendary Everett Morton.

"On bass we have Rob Swadkins, on guitar Steve Harper and on saxophone we have Simeon Murray.

"We originally, reformed the Beat after 20 years, when The Specials reformed last year I thought it was the best thing they could have done, and they did it at the right time.

"People had been waiting a long time for it to happen."

So what can people expect at Bath's Komedia tomorrow?

"People always have a great time at Beat gigs," replies Ranking.

"No matter what age, what colour, what ever!

"We are here to promote peace, love and unity in the hope that it will uplift the people once more, and offer the realisation that there is always hope out there."

Doors open at 7.30pm and support comes from local band Flipron.

To book tickets call 0845 2938480 or visit www.komedia.co.uk/bath.