I like reggae a lot. But I love reggae when it’s played on a hot day, even better by a beach. So how would it sound in Nottingham’s Theatre Royal on a dark autumn night?
It’s less than a week since the death of Elizabeth II when Legend – The music of Bob Marley comes to visit. The show begins with a minute’s silence, during which we can hear a child giggling loudly behind us. This kind of sets the tone for the night.
Let me start though by saying that the band were faultless, but throughout every song there was a constant audible chatter, like a low hum. It was so consistent that I thought at first that it was part of some kind of backing track, until I looked around and could see the audience chatting, some swiping through their phones as though the music was their background noise.
This continued until we got to the more commercially known tracks – I shot the Sheriff, One love, No woman no cry. To these the audience were immediately up on their feet and dancing.
But let’s get back to the band. Legend is made up of seven talented musicians, Led by Michael Anton Phillips who sounds just like Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter, Bob Marley, and who eventually has the audience eating out of the palm of his hand, thanks to his infectious charisma.
The way he pronounces Nottingham ‘Nat in am’ seems to grab the audience’s attention after the first couple of opening songs. The audience definitely seems to be made up of a mix of die-hard fans who know every track word for word, but mostly those who just loved the hits. “Oh I know this one”, I heard the woman next to me say to her friend.
Folk are soon out of their seats and dancing in the aisles to the tracks they know and love, right up until the break. Have they peaked in the first hour? What can they come back with? But they do and the classics keep on coming; Buffalo Soldier, Three Little Birds… for another impressive hour.
You can feel the band’s energy, and the audience clearly love it. They just needed more room to dance.
Overall the band was fantastic. True pros. I’d love to see them at a festival in the sunshine though.
By Tanya Louise
Editor
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