The Dub Pistols formed in the mid-90s out of the chaos and energy erupting from the Heavenly Social-spawned big beat scene. Barry Ashworth and Jason O'Bryan were determined to mirror their wildlydiverse tastes in similar fashion to heroes like The Clash and The Specials, who spectacularly broke out of punk's confines to embrace other musical forms like reggae.

Their trademark style utilises special guest singers and MC's to front energetic big beat, dub, reggae and skainfused tunes - Terry Hall from The Specials is a regular collaborator.

Reggae collective Pama International are another band with a Specials connection, featuring as they do Lynval Golding from the latter and they also supported them last year. They utilise classic sounds of yesteryear with a social commentary - think King Tubby's dub stylings meets the southern soul sounds of the 60s Stax label.

Tickets

• > Exeter Phoenix
• > Exeter Box Office
• > See Tickets
• > Onionheart