Fans piled into the 1500-person-capacity NorVa anticipating Ziggy Marley, Bob Marley’s son, on the 3rd of 13 stops during his "Dragonfly" tour. The stage’s backdrop, a giant, glitter-green dragonfly, wings spread, under a red, green and gold rainbow, hinted at the irie rhythms to come.
Below the large bug, the stage looked grim. The Ben Taylor Band, fronted by the famous singer James Taylor’s son, lagged well behind their 8:00 opening-band start time. Technical difficulties pushed it to 8:40. The lights dimmed and an almost-full house applauded appreciatively. Reggae is great, but you don’t go to a concert to hear 40 minutes of pre-recorded reggae before the opening band.
With that behind them, they perf ormed impressively. Ben’s voice sounds as much like his dad’s voice as Ziggy’s does his dad’s. He was backed by an efficient rock/funk/soul, often veering into Pink Floyd-founded-psychedelic-grooves band, highlighted by the bringing-church-to-the-house keyboard skills of Adam MacDougall. The combo was definitely one of the best opening bands I have ever had the pleasure of standing through. Even after the late start, the crowd danced and cheered like the band owned the headlining spot.
Fan favorites were "Don’t Just Say No," a pro-marijuana legalization ditty, the emotional "I am the Sun," where Ben personified the sun commenting on the shambled state of the world, and their final jam, the crowd favorite classic "Not Fade Away."
By 10:20, the dimly lit stage was Ziggy ready. Microphones waited for him and his back-up singers. A table supporting smoking incense sticks rested between his microphone and the drum kit. The sweltering house was packed and I wasn’t sure if I would be able to move at all during the show.
Everyone backed off to dance during the band’s introductory instrumental, "Melancholy Mood." You could tell the music was going to be tight. The bassist’s crawling groove had the room swaying. Ziggy’s two lady back-up singers walked on spouting a series of "Ooh ooh’s;" a minute later the place roared as the iconic dread-locked son of the icon strolled to his mic. A smile that never left crossed his face. Watching his band, feeling for the right moment, he grabbed the spirit and released a voice that seemed to scream from the grave, "A little collie weed to ease I grief." If he was waiting for an ecstatic reaction, he got his wish. He raised his fist high to continued fanfare.
He then played, with two different guitars, "In the Name of God" from his new album and a version of "Higher Vibration," a Melody Makers classic, featuring himself and his singers harmonizing through a few rounds of, "Yeah, yeah, yeah," "I am a creature of love," he said. The other Melody Makers tune chosen, riding in on an impressively deep, growling bass line, was "Let Jah Will be Done."
Ziggy turned, put down his guitar and stepped back to the mic a possessed man. You would think he had channeled Bob. "No sun will shine in my day today. The high yellow moon won’t come out to play," let the crowd know, if the music hadn’t already, that it was being treated to "Concrete Jungle." Everyone marinated blissfully in Ziggy’s voice. More Bob classics performed were "Jammin," which widened Ziggy’s smile, "Rock it Baby" and a crowd sing-along version of "No Woman No Cry."
Since this is a tour for his new album, he played every track from "Dragonfly," except for the emotive DYKL (Don’t You Kill Love). "Shalom Salaam" gave Ziggy a chance to show off his guitar skills. He let his fingers hopscotch skillfully from fret to fret. During the encore, he played on a butterfly and dragonfly covered keyboard, backed by a show topping guitar jam on "I’ll Never Deny You."
The last song of his encore set was "Dragonfly." "A little dragonfly helped me to write this one, so it’s very special," Ziggy said. He played his guitar in perfect time. "Everybody’s worried about time," he sang. He paused, letting the crowd gasp a collective breath. He continued, "but I just keep that shit off my mind." Thanks to whichever dragonfly inspired him.
Ziggy’s band was on point all night, but this is his tour, and he played the guitar, the keyboard and sang. Multi-talented, but his singing is his gift, and when you are standing in front of this artist in his own right, a three-time Grammy winner with The Melody Makers, all you can do is rejoice and dance.
Photos courtesy of www.ziggymarley.com
