John
Brown's Body - Fox Theater, 7/12/02
Reviewed
by Larry Leiber for The Reggae Movement
I have to be honest with
you. Before last Friday, I really didn't know too much about John
Brown's Body. I went into the show expecting a poppy UB40 style
reggae band putting on a pseudo reggae show.
However, from the time that
John Brown's Body came onto the stage to the minute they left the stage,
I was thoroughly entertained and amazed at how good this band really
was, as they played 2 hours of some great roots style reggae music.
The moment they took the
stage, about 11:15, they played a killer instrumental which demonstrated
to the crowd that this was a polished, quality band getting ready to put
on a great show for us.
Playing
nothing but original
music, but they kept the
crowd the entire 2 hours non stop that they played. Giving us
everything from dub and version, roots, pop reggae and dancehall, they
had the crowd moving all night long. The live version of Singers
and Players was amazing as they trailed off into dub and version before
bringing it back to the chorus.
Emanating their own style and
their own fashion, they carried no pretensions of who they were.
They were John Brown's Body, and they put on a great show for a packed
house.
I went out on Saturday and
bought any albums I could find, which was Spirits All Around Us
so that I'll know much more about them the next time they come
through. This is definitely a band I'll be charting their
progress.
Comments or suggestions can be sent to Larry@reggaemovement.com
