The Opera House security detail must have taken the night off, because the air was so thick with the smell of marijuana it made your head swim. Through that caliginous haze, the reggae reimaginations of some of my favorite albums were performed.
I got my first taste of the All Stars while DJ-ing in New Brunswick. Back then they tickled my ear drums with their reggae dub version of Pink Folyd’s Darkside of the Moon. As time passed they took on another one of my all time favorites with Radiohead’s OK Computer. On this dreary May night, I got to hear their take on the Beatles. Luckily Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band translates well into the dubscape.
There’s always a sense of anxiety on your way to watch a group you’ve anticipated seeing for years. Will the music translate well live? Will they play the right mix of their material? Most importantly, will the female vocals on Dark Side be strong enough. Leave it to reggae music to put your mind at ease.
To have the audacity to perform music this famous and to change it as you see fit requires a talented band to pull it off. Anything less would just be insulting to the originals. I was almost taken aback at just how tight they actually were. Drums, horns, guitars; everyone on stage had an effortless expertise to their craft.
It’s a concert like this that really makes you appreciate a skilled bass player. On the heavier Pink Floyd grooves like the ones year hear on Time, you could feel the music inside you. When they made the switch to Radiohead and the Beatles, it was right there feeling its way through the crowd making them bounce along with it.
The defining feature of this concert for me was the female vocals during the Dark Side portion. They were about as spot on as you could get without listening to the original. I closed my eyes briefly while they were playing Brain Damage and thought “this is about the closest I will ever get to hearing this album live.”** Normally that thought would depress me - but reggae or not - Floyd played this well, is still Floyd done right. The seventies are gone and mourn them if you must; just know that there are still ways you can listen to your favorite music from that era live.
The All Stars also played a great mix of Radiodread along with Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Dub Band, but the Dub Side of the Moon portions of the gig were the defining feature of the night.
One of the best parts of this evening came when I got home from the gig. On opening my copy of Dub Side of the Moon, there before me was a bright green record. It’s the silly little things in this obsession I have with music that really do make me smile.
**Yes I’m aware of the reunion tours here and there. I’m also aware that I miss them every single time.
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