Post by Ryan on Jan 31, 2007 23:27:37 GMT -5
Ya Mon! Irie! I went to see the Wailers last night at the Fox Theater in Boulder. It was a great show. Although it was a cold MF last night. Just finding a place to park on the Hill in Boulder with all of the side-streets still iced over, was quite the challenge.
I guess the name of the current singer is something like Yvad. He was alright, but I much prefer Gary Pine who had been singing lead for the Wailers on and off for the past several years. I felt like Yvad had one of the smallest ranges of any singer that I have ever heard. I mean Johnny Cash's voice modulated more than this guy's. Oh well, he had some crazy dreads, and he knew the words to the songs. . .
Members have been in and out of the Wailers band since its inception, and definitely since Bob's death in 1981. But the backbone of the Wailers music has always been Aston 'Familyman' Barrett. A noted reggae musicologist Roger Steffens has said that, "as long as you have Familyman's bass, it can still be called the Wailers."
This was the first show that I had ever seen Al Anderson playing lead guitar. He played on albums and toured with both Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. He is one of the great reggae guitarists. The really cool thing was that he hung out for a little after the show and talked with people, and I got to talk with him for just a few minutes. He was really being tough on himself, saying that he didn't play well during that show. It sounded great to me!
Al Anderson is on the left, playing the blue Ibanez guitar
I got a short movie clip of them finishing the song "Them Belly Full". You can download it from my link here: (right-click, save-as):
greenmidget.net/Them_Belly_Full.MOV
If you get a chance to see the Wailers, then don't pass it up. They are still carrying Bob's message of Rastafari around the world. By the way, we might need to get a rasta smiley on this board!