Powerstation
Thursday, April 20
Review: Russell Baillie
You know you're at a different sort of gig when ... in between the standard "check-1-2" the guy who comes out to test the microphone shouts "Rastafari!" to cheers out front.
Yes, this here is serious reggae territory. And they don't come any more seriously reggae than Burning Spear (aka Winston Rodney) making his first trip to these shores in his 30-year career.
It was the Jamaican star's lasting mana rather than his recent recordings (his most recent album Calling Rastafari having recently won a reggae album Grammy) that ensured a packed and reverent house.
And if you looked past the grey hairs of his beard and a certain lack of spring to his step (being a reggae star probably plays hell on the knees) could well be seeing Spear of 25 years ago.
Especially as the set seemed drawn mainly from his touchstone 70s albums like Slavery Days (its haunting title track a highlight), Marcus Garvey and Man in the Hills, all of which he sang in his distinctive model-of-restraint majesterial tones.
The seven-piece band behind him pumped those songs deep and hard, a model of bass-driven urgency and crispness.
While the set was predictably even-paced, it snowballed in energy and momentum throughout — despite Spear's repeated forays from the microphone for an extended bash on the congas.
It all made for one highly enjoyable night of the old fashioned Rasta-conscious stuff. The 55-year-old Burning Spear might have earned the reggae legend title a while back, but live, he lived up to it nicely.
<i>Performance:</i> Burning Spear
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