This is a WorldaReggae report written by Ras Mikeyy
From here on, if you want to catch the same vibe that I got right now writing this article, please put some Stephen Marley music on.
Most people would say that the 17th of May was the day that the Amsterdam Reggae Festival was being held, yet even with an event so big, the Music Temple of Holland was packed with Roots Rock Lovers. Cause it was Stephen Marley himself who was performing there that night.
Being a great fan of his style and way of expressing himself on music, Stephen Marley blew us away from the first moment. The energy, the joy, the happiness he made it possible to reflect that on the audience. You didn’t had the feeling that this was just another concert, oh no, it was a unique performance!
If you looked around you, you would see what reggae music stands for. Children, Elders, Teenagers, Black/White, everyone was represented and reunited troughout the music. Everyone was singing along from the first moment untill he left the stage after 2 hours and 20 minutes of greatness!
Bob has had many children and many of them are artists too, but….I would swear that if you would close your eyes during the show you would believe that Bob himself was standing there, specially when songs like Buffalo Soldier, Could You Be Loved and Jammin’ were played. It was somehow scary that a son could look so much like his dad, yet true. Stephen truelly is the most spiritual singer of all the sons and is slowly but sure stepping in his fathers footsteps.
Every single song had the same special but yet unique element, I know it sounds strange but every song when it ended gave you the feeling that you just visited an 60 minute performance. He has it all live, a introduction to warm youself up, the conscious part where you need to use that wich has been given to you to think about certain aspects of life and then….the part where ROCK comes into ROOTS ROCK REGGAE. JAMMIN’JAMMIN’JAMMIN’ and yes he did, standing on the balcony of one of the most beautiful musical theaters of Holland you could see the crowd moving from side to side and jumping up and down.
Stephen is not only known for his great voice but also his ability of playing different instruments like the guitar and the Nyabinghi drums. So he did, quite a few times just singing while playing the drums which gave you the perfect feeling of what Roots reggae music is. It is a certain sound keeps drumming trough your head and brings you into the vibe that is supposed to be caught during performances like this.
Stephen was not alone, he also brought his son Jo Mersa Marley. What a performance, coming on stage as if it was his own concert and he really mashed up the place! With the ability to have multiple sounds in his voice, he gave us a great impression of his skills and talents so we would love to see him back soon!
Do not forget that he was not alone, his band and the 2 background singers did a fantastic job! You could feel the love troughout the instruments of the bandmembers. The 2 singers did a great job and let themself go on stage by moving to the riddims all the time.
The whole evening was a blessing, a great artist, that performed for an super enthusiastic crowd who wanted to do nothing but enjoy and dance. Thank you very much Stephen Marley for a legendary performance!!!
If you were not there, make sure you will be in Utrecht on the 18th of May, Tivoli de Oude Gracht because Stephen Marley is doing 1 more performance there and later on this year on Mondial Festival in Tilburg.
Stephen Marley’s brother, Damian, will perform in Paradiso soon too:
Damian Marley
30th of July
Paradiso Amsterdam
Price: € 37,50 excl membership
Doors open: 19:00
The movie footage will be shot in Utrecht.
