02-27-2007, 11:53 PM
Time for my winter dread flash, my oh-so-needed dose of Jamaica tropical base, without which I surely would not make it through the winter.
This year's lineup was strong - old school and rootsy, just the way I like it. Opening were Wisdom and Luna Angel, two local acts that I don't particularly care for. Wisdom gave me a cool shirt of a black fighting monk over the banner 'wisdom' which I wear to martial arts events to confuse people, but I still skipped their set. Luna Angel spends too much time trying to look like a hippie hottie, which normally I'd appreciate but she fails at it. Other highlights: Morgan Heritage is still solid, although it took me a while to recognize them. Eek-a-mouse is still silly. He's lost his vocal dexterity and only pulled off one moment that was genuinely dubby. The rest was just clowning. Culture tried, but after last year's loss of lead Joe Hill, his son stepped up apparently. He did the best he could under the circumstances. Steel Pulse rocked, but could have done with a stronger horn section. They used to have a tight horn section and I miss that. I remember seeing them in San Jose one night and at the Greek the next. SJ turned their horns to dissonent mush, so bad I almost bailed on the Greek show. But the Greek is kind to horns, fabulous acoustics, and SP literally blew the house down. This time, SP's Life without Music was the show stopper. I thought I'd be singing that through this week until the closing act. There were a few other acts that were enjoyable, but it was a reggae festival, so I've forgotten who they were.
The closing act was Bunny Wailer and at almost 60, the blackheart man still has it. He came skanking out on one leg and threw down hit after hit with razor-sharp turns of the band as they jammed from riddem to riddem - true Jamaican sound. It was a surprisingly sophisticated show. You had to know Bunny's music fairly well to fully appreciate how he was reinterpreting material. I could see some of my friends who weren't so familiar with Bunny's catalog getting confused by the riddem changes and totally lost by the lyrics. But Bunny threw some old BMW stuff (we do this in Feb in honor of Bob's b-day) and that brought things together for even the first-time reggae listeners.
RM was quiet for the most part - a lot of patients that needed to lay down. One woman came in passed out and her friend warned us that she always peed when she got like this and she hated being put in a diaper. We thanked her friend for the warning, wrapped her space in plastic, and then told her friend about interventions and such. RM surprised me with a b-day cake, which caught me totally off guard, since I wasn't even thinking about my b-day after just returning from a week at Tahoe. It was sweet and made for a special show. We also spread some of Buster's ashes in the truck - that probably sounds odd, but such was Buster. LB and his sig O gave me a ride home, which was also very nice.
This year's lineup was strong - old school and rootsy, just the way I like it. Opening were Wisdom and Luna Angel, two local acts that I don't particularly care for. Wisdom gave me a cool shirt of a black fighting monk over the banner 'wisdom' which I wear to martial arts events to confuse people, but I still skipped their set. Luna Angel spends too much time trying to look like a hippie hottie, which normally I'd appreciate but she fails at it. Other highlights: Morgan Heritage is still solid, although it took me a while to recognize them. Eek-a-mouse is still silly. He's lost his vocal dexterity and only pulled off one moment that was genuinely dubby. The rest was just clowning. Culture tried, but after last year's loss of lead Joe Hill, his son stepped up apparently. He did the best he could under the circumstances. Steel Pulse rocked, but could have done with a stronger horn section. They used to have a tight horn section and I miss that. I remember seeing them in San Jose one night and at the Greek the next. SJ turned their horns to dissonent mush, so bad I almost bailed on the Greek show. But the Greek is kind to horns, fabulous acoustics, and SP literally blew the house down. This time, SP's Life without Music was the show stopper. I thought I'd be singing that through this week until the closing act. There were a few other acts that were enjoyable, but it was a reggae festival, so I've forgotten who they were.
The closing act was Bunny Wailer and at almost 60, the blackheart man still has it. He came skanking out on one leg and threw down hit after hit with razor-sharp turns of the band as they jammed from riddem to riddem - true Jamaican sound. It was a surprisingly sophisticated show. You had to know Bunny's music fairly well to fully appreciate how he was reinterpreting material. I could see some of my friends who weren't so familiar with Bunny's catalog getting confused by the riddem changes and totally lost by the lyrics. But Bunny threw some old BMW stuff (we do this in Feb in honor of Bob's b-day) and that brought things together for even the first-time reggae listeners.
RM was quiet for the most part - a lot of patients that needed to lay down. One woman came in passed out and her friend warned us that she always peed when she got like this and she hated being put in a diaper. We thanked her friend for the warning, wrapped her space in plastic, and then told her friend about interventions and such. RM surprised me with a b-day cake, which caught me totally off guard, since I wasn't even thinking about my b-day after just returning from a week at Tahoe. It was sweet and made for a special show. We also spread some of Buster's ashes in the truck - that probably sounds odd, but such was Buster. LB and his sig O gave me a ride home, which was also very nice.
Shadow boxing the apocalypse