By Carter Van Pelt
Jan. 23, 2017
The Wailers Band performed an 80-minute set and 35-minute encore for an enthusiastic crowd of approximately 400 at the Bourbon Theatre on Sunday.
Disappointingly, charter member and musical director Aston Familyman Barrett was not part of the lineup for the event. According to guitarist Junior Marvin, Barrett had temporarily flown back to Jamaica due to a severe cold but intended to rejoin the tour. Barrett’s original basslines are a dominant aspect of reggae’s melodic content, and Barrett is widely considered one of a small handful of reggae’s touchstone bassists. His absence was a disappointment to hardcore fans only, but did not diminish the audience’s enthusiasm and sing-along participation in the many recognizable reggae anthems.
Lead vocals were split between Familyman’s son Joshua David and Junior Marvin, who in February celebrates 40 years with the group. Marvin joined in 1977 for the recording of Bob Marley’s iconic Exodus and Kaya albums. Marvin’s lead guitar has remained an important part of the group’s sound and a point of access for American audience who tend to relate to rock/blues lead guitar more than any other instrument, regardless of reggae’s essential drum and bass foundations.
The Wailers are a legacy band with a catalog of songs defined by a singular figure in popular music, Bob Marley. The setlist comprises Bob Marley’s greatest hits and included “Natural Mystic,” “Positive Vibration,” “Is This Love,” “Lively Up Yourself,” “Midnight Ravers,” “The Heathen,” “I Shot the Sheriff,” “Concrete Jungle,” “Three Little Birds,” “Waiting in Vain,” “Roots Rock Reggae,” and “Jammin.” The main set also included an obscure Marley track, “I Know a Place” and a post-Marley Wailers track, “My Friend,” with Marvin on lead vocals.
After a brief break following “Jammin,” Joshua David returned to the stage with an acoustic guitar. He explained that the group had performed in Charlestown, South Carolina on June 17, 2015, the night of the Emanuel Methodist church murders, unaware of the events until the next day. Barrett ‘livicated’ a song written earlier on the day of the killings, “Stand Firm in Babylon” to “those who lose their life in the struggle and for family and loved ones who carry on.” It was a natural segue to Marley’s own ballad “Redemption Song,” and the full band returned to finish the track and then performed “Could You Be Loved,” “Buffalo Soldier,” “Get Up Stand Up,” and “Exodus.”
Carter Van Pelt is the host of “Eastern Standard Time,” airing every Friday from 10 p.m. to midnight on KZUM. Follow him on Instagram and Twitter.
