The Wailers & Jah Works
OK, so it was a clear, crisp January evening. Stars twinkled in the sky over the suburban Washington, DC town of Falls Church, Virginia. Just around the corner from a game shop called The Complete Strategist is an old movie theater that has been converted into a live music place. I went to this place for movies when I was a kid and believe me, it's way much better as a music joint. AOL lists The State Theater as the best live music venue in the Washington, DC area, not that I take AOL's word about much of anything. What's funny to me is that groups that used to fill up entire coliseums are now playing small neighborhood joints like this; Blue Oyster Cult, for example, is playing next week, probably on a clear, crisp January evening not unlike the one previously mentioned.
Jah Works is a sort of local Baltimore band that was young white guys banging ska and had a black guy with dreadlocks that was supposed to transform them into a genuine Rasta Reggae band somehow. The ska band was good, and the reggae singer who also blew some saxophone was good, but it just didn't quite meld into a tight reggae band. They did what they were supposed to do, I guess, which was to be the warm-up band, and they got us warmed up. But they started late, so I was expecting more out of them.
The bass player was good and took full advantage of the theater's pounding bass speakers that would thump your guts even in the back of the house. The keyboard player carried most of the act otherwise with lots of synth variations. There was a little white ska guy who took a couple of solo vocal leads and reminded me for all the world of one of the teevee talent search show runner-ups! So, they tried to do a bit of build-up for the headliners, which they sort of did.
The Wailers came onstage after an intermission and did most of their own warm-up in that the lead singer and his two female vocal accompanists did not come out on stage until after a few tunes that had everyone dancing and tapping their toes. So, as a show, this worked well; the whole show built and continued to get better, which kind of offset the late and slow start, or maybe added to the end effect. The Wailers had the confidence, polish, and tight delivery of a group that has played their songs a thousand times and honed their art. The keyboard guy has been with the group a long time and some of his riffs seemed to forget the song, but this also added to they effect of the chronic beat and melodic sequence of the tunes being played. There were dreadlocks and Rastamans. Some of the guys had their dreads stuffed-up in their knit hats that were bigger than basketballs. Or maybe they carry lots of stuff in their hats. But there did seem to be several real Jamaican crews on hand! Oh, yeah mon! I took along a new neighbor recently from California, and he said it was the most fun he's had since he's come to the Washington area, but he's originally from Belize and likes Bob Marley for a long time anyway.
I recently acquired more than thirty Bob Marley CD's, so I was sort of tuned-up for this, and will likely be listening to and appreciating his stuff for some time to come. There is a funny photo of them on Wikipedia; they have suits and short hair! No dreadlocks!
Their website is The Wailers.
Jah Works is a sort of local Baltimore band that was young white guys banging ska and had a black guy with dreadlocks that was supposed to transform them into a genuine Rasta Reggae band somehow. The ska band was good, and the reggae singer who also blew some saxophone was good, but it just didn't quite meld into a tight reggae band. They did what they were supposed to do, I guess, which was to be the warm-up band, and they got us warmed up. But they started late, so I was expecting more out of them.
The bass player was good and took full advantage of the theater's pounding bass speakers that would thump your guts even in the back of the house. The keyboard player carried most of the act otherwise with lots of synth variations. There was a little white ska guy who took a couple of solo vocal leads and reminded me for all the world of one of the teevee talent search show runner-ups! So, they tried to do a bit of build-up for the headliners, which they sort of did.
The Wailers came onstage after an intermission and did most of their own warm-up in that the lead singer and his two female vocal accompanists did not come out on stage until after a few tunes that had everyone dancing and tapping their toes. So, as a show, this worked well; the whole show built and continued to get better, which kind of offset the late and slow start, or maybe added to the end effect. The Wailers had the confidence, polish, and tight delivery of a group that has played their songs a thousand times and honed their art. The keyboard guy has been with the group a long time and some of his riffs seemed to forget the song, but this also added to they effect of the chronic beat and melodic sequence of the tunes being played. There were dreadlocks and Rastamans. Some of the guys had their dreads stuffed-up in their knit hats that were bigger than basketballs. Or maybe they carry lots of stuff in their hats. But there did seem to be several real Jamaican crews on hand! Oh, yeah mon! I took along a new neighbor recently from California, and he said it was the most fun he's had since he's come to the Washington area, but he's originally from Belize and likes Bob Marley for a long time anyway.
I recently acquired more than thirty Bob Marley CD's, so I was sort of tuned-up for this, and will likely be listening to and appreciating his stuff for some time to come. There is a funny photo of them on Wikipedia; they have suits and short hair! No dreadlocks!
Their website is The Wailers.