29th July 2014, Glasgow 02 ABC
Over fifty years since he started making music with Bob Marley and Peter Tosh, Bunny Livingstone Wailer is still going strong and clearly has unfinished business. He brought his message to Glasgow for the first time last night, gracing the big stage of the 02 ABC with his charismatic presence and unique status in reggae history, flanked by 8-piece band and two backing singers. Bass Warrior warmed up the venue with old and new classics, but latecomers may have been surprised as just after 9 the band took the stage and launched into a bouncy version of Bob & Marcia’s Studio One favourite, Really Together, which had me happy and smiling already. An air of anticipation quickly drew the crowd towards the stage as the distinctive voice echoed around the hall from offstage like something out of a Hollywood biblical epic, chanting the praises of Rastafari. Bunny strolled on stage, dressed in head to toe in white with trademark red, gold and green scarf and African print waistcoat, shades to protect him from the limelight he has shunned for much of his career. It took me a while to realise that the hat I thought he was wearing was in fact his dreadlocks, wound tight around his head like a crown. Appropriately enough, he followed up ‘Rastaman Chant’ with ‘Baldhead Jesus’, his deceptively simple tune questioning the assumptions of organised religion and carried on with the powerful plea for justice of ‘Battering Down Sentence’, and turned up the fire and brimstone for the warning message of ‘Armageddon’ and 'Blackheart Man'. But he showed his romantic side with ‘Love Fire’ and the beautiful ‘Dreamland’ which leaves us all wishing these moments can last forever.
He still knows how to have a good time, showcasing most of the classic ‘Rock ‘n’ Groove’ LP with irresistible danceable tunes like ‘Rootsman Skanking’, ‘Dance Rock’, ‘Ballroom Floor’ and getting everyone singing along to the joyous anthem of ‘Cool Runnings’. As if the ‘Don Dada’ didn’t have enough great tunes of his own, which he clearly has in abundance from almost forty years of solo recordings, he unselfishly also found time to pay tribute to his brothers in the Wailers. ‘Trenchtown’, ‘Trenchtown Rock’, ‘No Woman No Cry, ‘Heathen’, and ‘Easy Skanking’ from Bob, and ‘I’m the Toughest’ and ‘Legalise It’ from Peter, demonstrated how even after they went their separate ways in 1974, they remained forever bonded and rooted in a shared musical heritage that could never be split apart. Just as some of us may have been getting tired, he upped the pace with a return to the ska classics where it all began, skanking to ‘Simmer Down’ and ‘Hypocrites’ like he was still a teenager, ably accompanied by the horns section stepping up to the pace of the Skatalites. He left the stage after nearly two hours to the strains of ‘Keep On Moving’; an apt choice as it was the only Wailers tune where all three took a verse each, and united in harmony for the chorus, sealing a place in the hearts of reggae fans forever. Bunny Wailer has done so much to create this music that we all love, he deserves his piece of dreamland, somewhere not by or near anyone, but lucky for us, he still keeps on moving, and carrying this reggae burden all the way. One love!
He still knows how to have a good time, showcasing most of the classic ‘Rock ‘n’ Groove’ LP with irresistible danceable tunes like ‘Rootsman Skanking’, ‘Dance Rock’, ‘Ballroom Floor’ and getting everyone singing along to the joyous anthem of ‘Cool Runnings’. As if the ‘Don Dada’ didn’t have enough great tunes of his own, which he clearly has in abundance from almost forty years of solo recordings, he unselfishly also found time to pay tribute to his brothers in the Wailers. ‘Trenchtown’, ‘Trenchtown Rock’, ‘No Woman No Cry, ‘Heathen’, and ‘Easy Skanking’ from Bob, and ‘I’m the Toughest’ and ‘Legalise It’ from Peter, demonstrated how even after they went their separate ways in 1974, they remained forever bonded and rooted in a shared musical heritage that could never be split apart. Just as some of us may have been getting tired, he upped the pace with a return to the ska classics where it all began, skanking to ‘Simmer Down’ and ‘Hypocrites’ like he was still a teenager, ably accompanied by the horns section stepping up to the pace of the Skatalites. He left the stage after nearly two hours to the strains of ‘Keep On Moving’; an apt choice as it was the only Wailers tune where all three took a verse each, and united in harmony for the chorus, sealing a place in the hearts of reggae fans forever. Bunny Wailer has done so much to create this music that we all love, he deserves his piece of dreamland, somewhere not by or near anyone, but lucky for us, he still keeps on moving, and carrying this reggae burden all the way. One love!
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