I have being waiting for the coming of Sly and Robbie for week. Ever since I saw the first announcement for what was set to be one of the biggest Reggae nights in Australia since Bob Marley played on these shores over 20 years ago, I have been dreaming about it. Literally.
Black Uhuru’s Michael Rose partnering with the legendary Drum and Bass (not the kind you are thinking about, the instruments) Jamaican duo was even more promising. It is in full Jamaican excitement mode that I hit the doors of the Metro on Saturday night. Going up the stairs to the bar, I could feel (actually smell) we were going for a heavy Jamaican party, pure Kingston style. And it is with a lot of disappointment that I read the following notice at the entrance:” PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING IMPORTANT INFORMATTION REGARDING TONIGHTS EVENT
THANK YOU”
The urgency feeling in the notice and the typos were really not a good sign. Hopefully, all that Jah’s holy smoke I breathe in just going up the stairs had already been affecting what’s left of my brain cells. I felt almost relaxed and kept on reading. ” Reggae supergroup BLACK UHURU have landed in Australia for what promises to be the most exciting concerts since reggae icon Bob Marley played over 20 years ago. [I knew that, that’s exactly why I am here tonight] Unfortunately, due to events totally out of control of the promoters and the artist, renowned bass player Robbie Shakespeare will be absent for the first two shows (Sydney 11th & 12th April), of their Australasian tour.” What the F…?!?!?, there better be a really good reason, ‘cause Sly and Robbie without Robbie is like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, without the peanut butter. It is still good but you already know the flavor. By the way, I have to stop with that stuff, my brain is not functioning anymore. Disappointed, border line crying, I kept on reading the notice, very slowly and carefully, my dream was becoming a nightmare and I was waiting to wake up any second. “However – as with all great musical stories – the show will still go on – and what a show it will be – [yeah, what a show?!?!?!] with live on stage the greatest drummer of all time – LOWELL ‘SLY’ DUNBAR – and Black Uhuru’s Waterhouse vocalist MICHAEL ROSE, plus a phenomenal 5 piece band direct from Kingston JA – BUBBLER (Keyboards & bass), the legendary percussionist SKY JUICE, DARRYL THOMPSON (guitar), and SISTER AISHA and RYAN BAILEY on backing vocals, which when combined are essentially the core artists of Black Uhuru in their prime from 1980. [Nothing new, here, except that Robbie is still missing from the list] All the tour party are distressed at the situation [and what about us?] but have demanded that the show continue, so as not to let down their Sydney fans. They’ve promised to put on an extra special 2-hour show, with more than a few surprises!”.
I hoped for more surprises, and good ones this time, as the first one of them was already ruining my evening. “Robbie is extremely disappointed at the situation, but due to re-routing his ticket because of the global virus, and compounded by a missed connection, the soonest he can arrive to perform in Australia is Sunday, in time for the Melbourne shows and the rest of the tour [now, that’s really helping me over here, I feel a lot better now]. Many flights have been canceled in the US, due to the world events, which hasn’t helped the situation.” Anyway, it kept going on how we could get our money back and apologizing for the situation … by the time I finished reading it and compiled all of the information, it was already almost ten.
DJ Semper FI was finishing his set, to which I didn’t pay much attention, unfortunately. I got a beer from the bar, trying to cool down and headed to the concert hall. The band was already on stage. The air was filled with a heavy grassy smell. The room was packed up to the ceiling. The lights were green, red and gold. As soon as I popped my head in there, I had forgotten about the door incident. The vibe was too strong. The band was pumping. Michael Rose went for most of the classic Black Uhuru’s tracks. A big Rastafarian scarf warped over his dreads. Holding up his hair, almost religiously like to better hear Jah chanting to him.
Ranging from classical Roots orchestration to Heavy dub style, Bubbler was constantly twicking the impressive amount of instrument sand effect modules he had, a big smile stuck on his face. The crowd was covering the vocalists so much that at one point it sounded like the whole room had sinsemilia growing in their garden. Spilffs were smoking. Dreadlocks were flying in the air. And despite, bad news, the war, the global virus and all, it was one of the most memorable reggae nights in Australia. Sly was hitting the drums like a mad machine; his drum kit was so big we couldn’t even see him. Darryl Thompson had his eyes barely open the whole show, sometimes looking for support from its giant amplifier, other times slapping his guitar like crazy and getting in 10 minutes long solo. Would Robbie had joined the party, it would have been the greatest night ever, but nobody really seemed to care. There was already so much to enjoy from those living legends playing before us for the first time in Australia, and Michael Rose was really the star of the evening. After more than 2 and 1/2 hours on stage, he took a break. The vocalists disappeared too.
We thought it was the end of it until Ryan Bailey came back on stage, the audience was cheering for Michael to come back too, which he did after a good ten minutes of calling him. And guess who came for dinner that night? Natty Dreadlocks. Everybody went nuts, including the band. After the longest version of it I never heard, the band, exhausted, started leaving the stage. Sly stayed on his drums for memorable finish along with Darryl Thompson, who was the last one to be on stage. Long after everybody else had left and suddenly unplugged his guitar, throw the wire on the floor. That was it. It was silent. I finally woke up from the best reggae night I have been to and I saw a lot of those Jamaican legends live, including, but tonight was something else. As the entrance notice finished, “Sly DUNBER and the full BLACK UHURU band are aware of how important their show is to you and will be pulling out all the stops 200% to ensure the night is memorable beyond words.” They did and it was. Now, I just wish I could and see them with Robbie in Melbourne.
