Saturday, December 03, 2005  

Damian Marley

Washington Post, Saturday, December 3, 2005; Page C04

The greatest performer at the 9:30 club on Thursday was not Damian "Junior Gong" Marley, youngest child of Bob. It was the wiry Rasta who waved the old Ethiopian flag, featuring the Lion of Judah symbol, throughout the 100-minute concert. It didn't look like he had Popeye arms hiding under his long sleeves, but he must be eating his spinach to have kept that flag flying for so long.

The charismatic and energetic Marley, his dreadlocks reaching well past his waist, held his own with the scene-stealing Flagman, revving up the sold-out house with an animated mix of roots reggae and dancehall riddims.

After a hype-man visit and a warm-up instrumental by the slamming Empire Band, Marley launched into the strident "Confrontation" from his strong new CD, "Welcome to Jamrock." While the album's striking title track is the smash hit that pushed Marley to the fore of urban radio, the crowd knew many of the songs from Marley's previous CDs, including "It Was Written," "More Justice," "Stand a Chance" and "Where Is the Love." But the set was heavy on tunes from Junior Gong's latest, including "All Night," "Beautiful," "Hey Girl" and "Move!," which samples Bob Marley's "Exodus." Of course, the place went nuts whenever Junior dipped into Pop's catalogue.

The closer, "Welcome to Jamrock," began as a dirge, befitting the tone set by Marley's lyrics chastising Jamaica's corrupt politicians and the sanitized image that foreigners are fed about the impoverished country and its stunning murder rate. Built on a liberal sample from Ini Kamoze's 1984 tune "World-A-Music," Marley and his brother Stephen have refashioned the riddim into one of the most powerful songs to come out of Jamaica. Marley's raging live rendition merely reinforced that. --Christopher Porter

Posted by CP | Link |

---