| Ziggy Marley @ The Depot 10/27/06: I've seen Ziggy (with the Melody Makers) twice before this particular show. The first time was back in 1986 at Snowbird. At that time Ziggy was a short haired 15 year old, and the Melody Makers (the band made up of three of Ziggy's siblings) had just recently formed. Despite the very young age of all of the Marley kids, they put on a very impressive show. I again saw them at the old outdoor venue at the Triad Center in 1989. By this time they had put out a couple of solid albums and had developed a significant following. Again they put on a great show, but this time the crowd was about ten times that of the Snowbird show three years before. Since the 1991 release of the disappointing "Jahmekya" albumin subsequent years I've really not been tuned in to what Ziggy has been up to. However, when I saw that he was coming to my new favorite venue, The Depot, I became curious to see just how Ziggy has been faring. Well, I'm happy to report that all seems well with Ziggy, though he currently doesn't work with the Melody Makers. Before the show Tee and I joined our friends Mike and Robyn for a dinner of pho noodles at our favorite pho restaurant Pho Tay Ho. We then all made our way to The Depot and met up with our good mutual friend Brian Thorn. Brian is a great music lover and often a good sport about joining me at live shows (especially reggae shows). After getting some drinks at the bar we secured a nice spot at the rear of the dance floor from which to watch the show. The show itself was far better than even what I was expecting. That's not to say I was expecting a bad show, I wasn't, but I was expecting a "pop" oriented reggae show, consisting of a lot of tunes with which I would be unfamiliar. Instead, Ziggy put on a very solid "reggae" show, playing a very long list of great songs from both his father's and his own musical catalogue. I was pleasantly surprised to find I was familiar with about 90% of the music played. Some of my favorites were Bob Marley's "Rastaman Vibrations" and "So Much Trouble," as well as Ziggy's own "Lee and Molly," "Justice," and "Look Who's Dancing." By the end of the show it was obvious that Ziggy and the band were having a sincerely good time. They were all laughing, dancing around, and playing a bit of a game with audience members who were playfully tossing napkins, first at Ziggy, then to whomever Ziggy pointed to. Great fun, great music, great atmosphere. We were all very happy to have gone to this show! |
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