There can’t be many places you can go with a better collective attitude than a reggae gig. Seriously, who would get all agro to go watch some Jamaicans jammin’ to some classic dub sounds? No one, that’s who. Throw in some of the scene’s genuinely top vocalists and you have the makings of a memorable night.

When [aa.artist;The Congos] arrived at Manning Bar, they were greeted by cheers from the balcony, punters leaning over the railings shouting down to the street “Jah Rastafari” and “One Love!”.

On such a warm and balmy night in Sydney, there was a danger that things could all dissolve in to flop sweat – but Manning Bar cranked the air con on high enough to make dancing quite a useful way of warming up, and the opportunity was presented when the Mista Savona Band hit the stage with the five piece dub vibe.

With Mad Professor on the mixing desk (seriously) the band started throwing down some dub staples and wondering freestyles with the echo and reverb being pitched and pulled. With guitar, bass, drums, keyboards and bongos all rocking out the Mista Savona band got lots of people up and dancing and seemed as excited as the crowd to have The Congos about to hit the stage.

For those that don’t know, The Congos are incredibly cool. You may not realise you have heard them, but if you have ever listened to reggae you probably have. Their Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry produced album Heart of the Congos is a reggae classic, the sort of album you can listen to without ever getting bored. The members are all now well in to their 60’s, complete white dreads and puffy beards – but my god, they still have the energy.

The band took the stage and lit it up, dancing and singing with passion and style. There was a lot of happy dancing and those that couldn’t dance also couldn’t stop themselves just moving to the beat. My favourite track of theirs, La La Bam Bam, just forced a smile on my face that would not go away. With the sound being so wonderfully balanced and managed by Mad Professor it was a perfect encapsulation of their sound. Even without the backing singers they got on the original press (we’re talking Gregory Isaacs here!) they managed to recreate the tracks well, injecting a live energy to it that made me fall in love with the music all over again.

The saddest moment of the night was when the bar closed, because you knew the band wouldn’t be far behind – but it didn’t matter. This was up there with the The Wailers as one of the best reggae gigs I’ve been to in the last decade. For a first trip to Australia I hope it won’t be their last, and big props to the organisers for getting these guys out here.

Most of all to Roydel, Watty, Kenroy and Cedric for coming out, putting on a mad show and giving us all in the audience memories that will live long. If you love reggae and you missed this one, you may have missed your first and last opportunity to see these Jamaican and their vintage sounds that never sounded old.