Music > Live Reviews

Reggae Legends

The Adrian Flux Waterfront

06/05/19

The path to this gig had not been exactly smooth. Initially the line-up featured Yellowman, only for him to be replaced a few days later by Big Youth. Then it got moved from the LCR to the Waterfront before finally, on the morning of the gig, it was announced that The Mighty Diamonds would not be appearing. What we still hoped for though was a night of quality reggae, featuring some genuine legends in a packed venue.
 
First up then was the last-minute addition of Little Roy. Backed by the house band, who played with each act, Roy got the night off to a decent start. He was relaxed and started to get the crowd moving, and his excellent rendition of Tribal War was an early evening highlight. Next up it was the turn of Big Youth. I love Big Youth, he may even be my all-time favourite reggae artist, and I could scarcely believe that he was performing in Norwich. The king of the Jamaican DJs, dressed in white, flailing his grey locks with his gold teeth shining in the lights, he was completely nuts. Brilliant, crazy, average, funny and mad all at the same time, by the time we got to his cover of Hit The Road Jack there can’t have been anyone in the house who wasn’t grinning broadly.
 
 

 
 Between acts, Rebel Lion Soundsytem were providing the vibes, and the bass was deep. Importantly when the band was playing, the music was loud, and the bass was big. Live reggae can go either way – it can be all too easy for it to be overly polite, veering on middle of the road territory. Not so here, this was heavy roots, and the night was building with each passing song. Next onto the stage was Eek-A-Mouse, dressed, possibly, as Zorro, and he provided us with another step up in class. With one of the most unique voices in reggae he absolutely bossed the stage. Very tall and languid, he oozed class and when he played some of his major hits like Ganja Smuggling and Wa-Do-Dem the atmosphere was brilliant. The sets had increased in length and by now the packed Waterfront was in full party mode.

The final act was Max Romeo and he completely justified his headline status. His War ina Babylon album is one of the best reggae lps ever recorded, and to hear some of the classics off that record brought to life on stage was magical. His set was up there with the best live reggae I’ve seen; The Abyssinians, Misty In Roots and Horace Andy spring to mind. By the time we got to Chase The Devil the whole mood was one of pure unbridled joy. He even pushed the night past the 10pm curfew time, and we could have danced on for hours longer. There was just time before leaving the venue to pick up a copy of Big Youth’s classic Dreadlocks Dread album from the well-stocked boxes of vinyl on the merch table.

I loved this night of reggae legends. The band were superb, complete with two backing vocalists and trombone, they brought the music to life. I’ve seen artists I never thought I’d get the chance to see, especially not in Norwich all on the same bill, and I hope it serves to remind promoters and venue owners that Norwich doesn’t just like reggae – we fucking love it.