VIDEO: ‘Long live the King!’
THAT was the declaration by Bob Marley’s youngest child, Damian as he closed Saturday night’s Redemption Live concert on the Kingston Waterfront to celebrate the 70th birthday of the reggae legend.
From the early performers right till the very end, the Digicel-sponsored event was chockfull of top-flight performers all paying their respects to the trailblazer, who died of cancer in 1981 at age 36. But it was left to three of his children to bring the curtains down in front of a sea of humanity, which had streamed into the venue from as early as 4:00 pm.
Ky-Mani Marley was the first of the siblings to take to the stage. He brought the spirit of his father back to downtown Kingston with a sound that is distinctively Marley in its tone and resonance.
He dropped a number of the anthems from his father’s catalogue including Work, Trench Town Rock, Iron Lion Zion and Is This Love. It was perhaps his delivery of Concrete Jungle set off by an infection drum intro which was most memorable. This was only outdone by his popular track Rasta Love, the collaboration with Protoje which had the thousands wanting more.
Julian Marley followed. His set, seasoned with more of the characteristic Marley sound, included Black Survivors and Exodus from his father’s repertoire and his tracks Can’t Stop Jah Works and Boom Draw.
It was then up to the ‘youngest veteran’ Junior Gong to seal the deal, and this he did.
His performance comprised primarily his popular works with the influence of his father thrown in for good measure.
He had the audience in a frenzy as he dropped Set Up Shop, Justice, War, Exodus, Gunman World, Road To Zion and more before wrapping it all up in a tidy gift with his monster hit Welcome to Jamrock.
The Marley men would all return to the stage for a finale featuring the universal anthem One Love, performing beneath larger than life images of their iconic father which were projected on the screen to the rear of the stage.
The performance of the Marleys was preceded by equally show-stopping moments by the billed acts.
Dancehall act Capleton brought all the fire and excitement usually associated with his set. I-Three members Judy Mowatt and Marcia Griffiths proved once again why they have lasted decades in the music industry as both gave an impressive showing. Tessanne Chin again belted high notes as she paid tribute to Marley and I-Octane ‘blazed a fire’ during his set.
The night of performances also saw No-Maddz, Freddie McGregor, Richie Spice, Tarrus Riley and more acts paying tribute to Marley in song.
