The Specials: Warfield Theater, San Francisco CA

IT WAS AN incredible scene. As England's Specials — a racially-mixed rock band that is doing for ska (pre-reggae Jamaican music) what the Rolling Stones did for American blues and soul in the '60s — bounced into their second encore, a loping, lazy piece of ska called 'You're Wondering Now', over 150 young San Francisco kids mounted the stage at the bands invitation. Swaying to the "backwards" beat ("bluebeat" as they call it in Jamaica) that is the music of Jamaica's most distinct feature, most of those on stage sang the song's chorus over and over: "You're wondering now/What to do/Now you know/This is the end."