Photos by Tim Dwenger
The Scene: Last Tuesday saw beautiful weather in Denver and the city’s Reggae fans turned out in droves to catch Ziggy Marley, the oldest son of the godfather of the genre Bob Marley. Lines stretched well around the block more than an hour before the time the doors were scheduled to open and it was clear by the bewildered looks as people carried in bottles of wine and six packs of beer and inquiries for directions “to the beer tent”, that there were more than a few Gardens virgins in the crowd. From the looks and sounds during the performance, everyone had a great time!
Ziggy Marley: With no opener on the schedule, Marley and his band came out about 6:45 as the grassy bowl exploded and dancers flooded the front of stage area to groove to the opener “Conscious Party,” the title track to his 1988 album. From there Marley fastforwarded in time to 2006 for “Beach In Hawaii” and then to 2011’s Wild and Free with “Reggae In My Head.” The later track found the crowd singing along and soaking in the last of the early evening sun as it soon disappeared from the bowl.
While I have to admit I wasn’t too familiar with Ziggy Marley’s music before this performance, his songs have a timelessness and familiarity to them that impressed me from the first notes. He delivered his own music confidently on tracks like “I Get Up” and “Sunshine” and, when he tackled “Is This Love” by his late father, he seemed to revel in the adoration that emanated from the crowd who wasted no time in joining him on the chorus of the classic anthem.
Marley made an expected, but none the less well received, reference to Colorado’s legal Marijuana before he broke into “Wild and Free” and, I’m sure for many in the audience, the words rang true.
I see hemp fields forever
Growing wild and free
I see marijuana trees blowing in our breeze
I see hemp fields forever growing wild and free
Wild and free
From beginning to end the show had an energy not usually found at The Gardens. The volume seemed to be a bit louder than normal and, late in the set during the hard hitting trio of “One Love,” “Love Is My Religion,” and “Fly Rasta,” most of the crowd was on their feet and dancing on the sloping lawns (being careful of course not to kick over their wine glasses, or step on that last piece of Brie that was waiting to be eaten). It was as exuberant as the Gardens gets and I for one loved it! Here’s to more shows like this one at York Street!
Energy: A
Musicianship: A-
Sound: B+
Stage Presence: A-
Set/Light Show: N/A
Overall: A-
+ There are no comments
Add yours