On Saturday October 2nd, Coventry's most famous musical export 2-Tone music is finally coming home. With the opening of 2-Tone Central, a museum, themed cafe and live venue, all dedicated to the ska phenomenon that was originally created in Coventry in the late 70's by Jerry Dammers.
After an invite only gala night (starring The Tones and with Touch FM's Brody Swain as MC), the venue will open its black and white doors to music fans on October 2nd with 2-Tone legends, Neville Staple (The Specials), Ranking Roger (The Beat) and Pauline Black (The Selecter). 
With support from local heroes The Pockets, and DJ Trevor Evans. The night promises to be pretty special, and tickets are already flying out. 2-Tone Central Promoter Andy 'Mac' McDonald said, "Coventry has some great live venues and promoters that want to preserve this city's tradition of creating a great live buzz, 2-Tone Central will be no different. 2-Tone Central is not just about 2-Tone and ska, it's about involving the whole music community from Indie to blues-punk to acoustic, and we want them all to play at our venue. Our 'Sounds Central' Night's will showcase just that. It's important that everyone is involved in one of the most anticipated venue openings in the UK at the moment".
The venue/museum/cafe is based at Coventry University Students' Union, Priory Street, and reflects their commitment to Coventry's heritage, culture and diversity. Band like The Specials and The Selecter have created a massive legacy over its 30 years existence, and it's here that all aspects of it will be celebrated.
Director of 2-Tone Central Ltd, Pete Chambers said," 2-Tone Central will be about educating and entertaining, that's why it's important we have all types of acts here, we can't stress enough it's not for just 2-Tone bands and ska music. It's open for all types of events, gigs, book signings and 'Evenings With'.
We encourage the next generation of local bands to come along and play, and maybe learn about bands like The Specials and The Selecter, The Beat and Madness. Many of the newer bands may well have been influenced by these groups, sometimes without actually knowing.
This project is a dream come true for me, and has been built on kindness and favours. Coventry University, The Lower Precinct and Coventry Market and many others have made this happen. Coventry is going to be a much more ska-ppier place from now on".
To buy tickets go to www.2tonecentral.co.uk