The Marley Brothers: Love, Unity, and Peace. When a Concert Becomes a Transcendental, Spiritual Experience.

Monday, September 22, I attended The Marley Brothers Legacy tour at the PNC Arts center in Holmdel, NJ. Now, before talking about the specific show, I have to qualify this with two key pieces of information. First, in the course of my lifetime I have seen 100s and 100s of shows. These range from enormous arenas, the old JFK in Philadelphia to small intimate venues like The Iron Horse in North Hampton, Mass. Secondly, the one that got away for me has always been seeing Bob Marley live. He died right before I was of concert seeing age. Now, processing all that, lets visit Monday's Marley Brothers concert.

The Marley Brothers performed one of the best shows i have EVER seen. In fact, I could confidently say, this was the greatest concert I have ever seen. That is quite a challenge as I have some big tours under my belt, Springsteen in The Meadowlands 1984; Prince in Philadelphia kicking off The Purple Rain Tour; Tom Waits at the O'Neill in 1987. Okay you get the idea. However this show rivaled all of these and in fact had that special magic that could lift it above. I had a friend once tell me how seeing Bob Marley was a spiritual experience. I know fully understand that remark as i experienced that transcendental soul lifting sense.

The concert featured Five Marley Brothers: Ziggy, Stephan, Julian, Ky-Mani, and Damian. The first thing I noticed as the show opened with "Natural Mystic" was how the brothers brought no ego to the stage. As one would take center mic, the others would move to the back dancing and enjoying their brothers singing. They seamlessly shifted back to the front to take turns. The energy they brought was unparalleled and in fact infectious throughout the crowd. One of the most beautiful thing was a family in front of me. It was obvious the parents where sharing their love of Bob Marley with their two young sons I estimated to be 12 and 8. The pure you on the father's face as he sung to the kids and help them through the show made the experience magical.

The Brothers played a solid two hours playing a tribute to their father ranging from music from The Wailers on up through his most recent work before he dies. They took a break from that showcasing original songs of their own before returning to Bob Marley's music to close the show. One thing I genuinely appreciated was how in many cases, they added their own interpretation to songs making them new again. Finally, the audience were genuine fans as almost everyone around me knew every word to every song played. I was equally impressed by two women sitting close to me who were singing the more modern songs the DJ played before the show started.

Now, to circle full back to my bold statement in the title. At some point early in the evening, this concert fully transformed from just being a show to being a sacred and spiritual uplifting celebration. As I reflected upon this, I realized how could it not be. The songs all preached Love, Unity, and Communion. They offered a celebration of all we need most in our world, and I felt that message resonate throughout me song after song after song. I have not experienced anything like this truly shared experience in quite some time. A final shout has to go to Flagman Judah for his ability to contiunal hoist and wave the Jamaican flag through the concert. His energy and love for his country clearly added to the overall effect of the show.

Finally, The screen behind the stage beautifully projected Bob playing many of the songs as his suns were playing them in unison. Otherwise, it shared beautiful graphics that told the message of the song visually. I bring all this up because if The Marley Brothers are performing near you on the short tour, make it a point to experience all that is soul shaking about the show.

Natural Mystic

The Marley Brothers: Love, Unity, and Peace. When a Concert Becomes a Transcendental, Spiritual Experience.

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