This was a great show. Max Romeo is an old Jamaican reggae singer who had a UK number one hit with wet dream in the late 60s. Wet dream was later banned when someone listened to the lyrics. He made several albums with Lee 'Scratch' Perry including war inna babylon which is in some circles considered to be the best record bearing Perrys' name. This album includes the classic chase the devil sampled by the Prodigy on their 'out of space' single.
Max Romeo is very good.
For anyone who does not know, the Renfrew Ferry is a boat permenantly moored on the river Clyde in Glasgow. At some point it has moved from the south bank of the Clyde to the north bank causing a little confusion. It's an interesting venue. I had only been once before, around 8 years ago, for a birthday party.
The warm-up tonight was a comedy 'white ragga' MC who shouted 'selector', 'smoke da ganj' and 'babylon' over some good reggae records. He did all this in a 'reggae voice' which briefly slipped during an equipment malfunction. I didn't catch the baseline accent but he was a white man with ginger hair. He was a bit of a cock, a real-life ali g.
The Max Romeo band was shit hot. Bass/guitar/drums/keyboard/sax/trumpet/female backing vocals. Very tight and well practiced. A fighting reggae rhythmn machine. The band were introduced individually - 'this is sista soulfunk on bass; this is brother jackson on drums' to great applause. Appart from the white, non-rasta trumpet player -'this is mark on trumpet' who didn't get much clapping and looked well pissed off in an unintentional comedy moment.
The band started playing at about 11 and I danced for most of the set. Most of war ina babylon was played which was good for me as it's the album I know best. Most of the songs were about babylon and kicking satans ass which I guess is a good thing. Wet dream wasn't played but it wasn't missed. A version of Redemption Song was a highlight, as was Chase the devil (I'm gonna put on an iron shirt kick satan in da dirt). Uptown babies don't cry was great, as was three blind mice and some snatches of Lennons Give peace a chance. As I said, a fucking great show. At the end the guitarist gave us a quick reggae version of Scotland the brave which was nice.
Here's the bit where I sound like an arse. The crowd was full of tossers, walking dead examples of why cannabis is bad for you. The lights were on for most of the show so you could see the haggard faces of the cannabis zombies staggering around the dance floor while they tried to roll their joints. Smoking cannabis is not good for your skin. The air was practically green with hash smoke. People can do what they want in their own time I guess but when it turns into a life-defining activity it is pretty sad.
It was as if most of the crowd got dressed in the dark in a 'who can look the most adolescent' contest. Hippies. Arrrrggghhh. A comedy moment occured when Romeo shook hands with some guy in the front row who was wearing a sixties style ska hat. A modern-era teen film style stoner tried to get in on the act and have a 'cool-points' handshake with Romeo. Romeo pulled his hand away at the speed of light provoking laughter from several other audience members.
OK, enough bitching. Great show. Crowd - 60% nobbers.
phunklstein
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