When you are the progeny of one of the most important figures in the history of modern music, you kind of have no choice but to live a little bit in the shadow of massive success. When you are the child of Bob Marley, it is simply impossible to escape dad’s legacy.
Marley’s greatest hits album, Legend, has spent a total of 853 nonconsecutive weeks on the US Billboard 200 albums chart (as of this month) the second longest run in the chart’s history – so, there is no getting away from that kind of magnetic pull, so why fight it? Since his passing in 1981, many of Bob’s kids (he had children with several different women) went into the business on their own, namely Ziggy, who had a big hit in ‘88 with the song “Tomorrow People,” and Damian, who dominated the charts when he welcomed listeners to the world of “Jamrock “in 2005. Sometimes, though, the sum of the parts brings more than the individual pieces.
This year, some of Bob’s kids: brothers Ziggy, Stephen, Julian, Ky-Mani, and Damian took the legendary Marley songbook on tour, for what they call the Legacy Tour, which stopped by the Place Bell on Monday, September 30th.
There was a “Natural Mystic” blowing through the air right from the very beginning of the show, as the brothers ascended on the stage while the band delivered a deep one drop and bass line that shook the foundations of the building. With a backing band that can rival the original Wailers locking into every groove and riddim, the siblings took turns wailing the songs that made their father such a powerful musical force, each of them possessing a little nuanced quality of Bob’s voice and vocal delivery that is unique to that Marley DNA. They were all equally on point, each possessing their unique personality on stage, switching between vocals, guitars, and Nyabinghi drums, but special mention goes to Ky-Mani, whose gravel-y voice hit that same spot that Bob inhabited when he really dug deep! The performances were above reproach, driving the adoring crowd into a prolonged frenzy that felt like a giant non stop party, adorned by images of reggae history and regalia. One look at the audience during the show, and you’d see people from every generation dancing, singing, and living a transcendent experience.
It was magical in the sense that the Marley Brothers (and the fans) were paying hommage to the sacred Tuff Gong songbook (which is a way of life in Jamaica), with folk hits (yes – reggae, at its core, is folk music – music of the people) that moved the people, songs like “Get Up Stand Up,” “So Much Trouble in the World” (featuring some fantastic dancehall toasting from Damian), “Coming In From the Cold, War,” “Could You Be Loved,” “One Love,” and a dynamite version of “Iron Lion Zion” that put a giant smile on the face of every single person in the building. In every sense, Marley’s children are carefully carrying his legacy forward, and energy like that will never, and can never die!
