For the past three years the Peter Tosh estate has been working to keep the music of the late reggae icon alive through the staging of a number of events surrounding his October 19 birthday. High on the list is a tribute concert during which Tosh’s contemporaries, and younger artistes, pay homage to the singer/songwriter known for his rebellious streak and advocacy.

This year’s event was held at the Pulse Centre in New Kingston last Saturday.

For years one and two, the production of this concert was nothing short of first-class. However, this year it seems as though something went wrong with the formula due to a major missing element — not enough Peter Tosh music.

In the previous stagings the presentation benefited from a full set by Tosh’s son Andrew. For many, Andrew Tosh is his father incarnate once he steps on stage. His voice and the stage presentation bring the elder Tosh back to life in a most potent way. This year that was missing.

Andrew Tosh should have been on tour in South Africa and Malawi, but a hiccup caused his to return to Jamaica last Friday, the day before the concert, and that did not afford him the opportunity to rehearse with the 809 Band which had been brought together by event producer Copeland Forbes for the show. Andrew Tosh tried to inject himself into the run of things but the lack of rehearsals showed. The Tosh dynasty continues with third generation Dre Tosh, the elder Tosh’s grandson, who was the first of the major acts on the night. He performed three of his grandfather’s iconic anthems — Can’t Blame the Youth, Brand New Second Hand and Coming in Hot, a track he reworked and released as his début single two years ago.

The other acts on the show did more of their own music than those of the singer for whom they had come to pay tribute, a departure from the previous years.

Jah 9 paid homage with Bush Doctor and Get Up, Stand Up and Jesse Royal did Lessons in My Life. Bushman, whose vocals many have likened to Tosh, sang Rastafari Is and Johnny B Good among his set. Etana was joined by Andrew Tosh for Buckingham Palace and rounded out her performance with Mama Africa. Chris Martin offered Stepping Razor in between his tracks. The task of closing the show was left to Luciano, who did Legalise It while lighting what seemed to be a spliff onstage.

This year the producers of the show wanted to inject youth into the line-up and drew on talents of deejay-of-the-moment Rygin King. The youngster tried his best, opening with a recording of Peter Tosh, but with the majority of the audience drawn from an older demographic he would find the going tough.

It was left to selector Mutabaruka to inject a greater level of Tosh into the evening. This he did with a string of his hits during the intermission.

The organisers need to determine whether or not this is a tribute concert, where patrons can attend and hear a solid set of the music of the man being honoured. Otherwise, the event becomes a regular stage show with a few Tosh songs thrown in.