Thursday, June 25, 2009
Sly & Robbie: 6.24.09 Oregon Zoo
Oregon Zoo Weds. concerts can be an agonizing scene if you put your blanket or sand chairs in the bowl and listen to soccer moms talk about their kids playgroups when they should be quiet and grooving on the tunes. At the Sly and Robbie show I found an excellent work around. I lay out my ground and disappear to another part of the Zoo to read a book until showtime and then go down below and hang out with truer music lovers.
Sly Dunbar. The man himself. This is about as good a view as one gets of him during his show, but you hear and feel the pulse of the riddim he lays down loud and clear. There really is no one else in the world who does what Sly and Robbie do when it comes to taking the listener into both strange and unfamiliar places at the same time. For instance, they started their show with a ten minute version of Fiddler on the Roof but let me tell you, Tevye, Topol and Theodore Bikel were no where to be found.
You feel like you are truly seeing something unique and all the way live. Shakespeare plays his entire instrument with movement making some sounds that seem impossible. He has this very cool effect where he holds the bass upside down and touches the floor with the fret handle. It becomes a very distinct bit of punctuation before he launches in a solo.
At one point his strap broke. The roadie came out and when it became obvious that hardware had fallen off and it was not going to be an easy fit he removed it. Shakespeare was able to do everything for a good part of the set with out it, never missing a riff. Finally it got to a point where he needed to end a jam with some pyro so had to get a chair to finish the tune until the support came out to reassemble the strap
I have a theory about the microphones musicians use at reggae shows. They are set in such a way that one can not announce fellow band members and make their names come out in an comprehensive fashion. Reggae microphones are made for dub toasting and shout outs like "Do You Lovvvve Reggae Mussic? and How you Feelin' Portland? So I really have know idea who the other fine musicians were on stage. If you recognize these guys, please leave a comment.
Sly and Robbie are rhythm kings. I was trying to recollect other sorts of performances that reminded me of the quality and unique interchange between musicians, and the only one I could come up with Booker T and the MGs. I logged on to emusic after the show and found that they had 150 albums with Dunbar and Shakespeare downloads. A friend and I used to joke that they made albums at about the rate that mortals take a meal.
Fret not if you missed them this time round. The good news is that they are slated to return to our area for Labor Day Monday. There will be no mail that day, but the Taxi Gang will gladly take you on as a willing fare to the land of Roots Rock Reggae. See you then.
posted by well-executed buffet at 10:30 PM
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