Tuesday, June 27, 2017

Rusted Root w/ The Wailers 6/24/17 New Haven Green

Closing show of the pretty lackluster Arts and Ideas Festival. It rained early in the day, which is par for the A/I course, but the sun came out and dried up nicely for showtime. The Wailers are the current incarnation of Bob Marley's legendary backing band. Primarily young Rastas on stage, I couldn't get a straight answer from my reggae-centric friends as to the lineage from the famed group ( it could have been fronted by Marley's paperboy). The lineage didn't matter because the access to the hits was the reason for listening. Buffalo Soldier, One Love, Getup Standup, I Shot The Sheriff, the list went on and we knew them all. Good sound and capable singing ( even the I-threes were represented) made for a thoroughly enjoyable listen. Closed the show with a rousing Jamming and Exodus.
Rusted Root had a hit at the beginning of the jam era (mid90s). They have been riding that hit for decades and it has gotten a little stale. The hit's chorus has a jam-marchable moment of "send me on my way". A friend said that for the longest time he thought it was "simian the whale", which almost seemed like a better lyric. You can't blame RR's charismatic frontman Michael Glabicki for riding the one-hit wonder train, it would be weird if he showed up as a salesperson at Best Buy.

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