The Wailers, in their current iteration, have been doing justice to Bob Marley’s legacy.
Walking into show at the Friday night, I wasn’t quite sure how it was all going to work. How does the band that painted the backdrop for Bob Marley’s sorrowful and hope-driven voice to shine out of play an epic album like “Exodus” without their leader? Itap simple. They find Elan Atias, and utilize his charisma and righteous likeness to do right by Marley’s legacy.
I wasn’t aware that Atias had previous performed with the Wailers for a few years in the late ’90s, but his passion and connection to the remaining members and some newer additions was apparent immediately. After a few moments of musical interplay among the Wailers, Atias skipped on to the stage to begin the ten-song journey through the 1977 groundbreaking album.
As if on cue, tufts of weed smoke billowed up from the crowd, breaking into waves of fragrant haze and seeping into the stage lights, Atias crowing out classics like “Natural Mystic,” and “So Much Things to Say,” in perfect harmony.
Original Wailers guitarist Junior Marvin shined during “The Heathen,” which led gracefully into “Exodus,” finding Atias reaching out to touch the hands of fawning audience members, his contagious grin heaping massive Marley-sized smiles out across the venue.
“Jammin’” was pristinely executed, the hip-dropping reggae standard exciting the mellow but engaged crowd. Atias ended the set with sing-along versions of “Three Little Birds” and “One Love,” the timeless tracks spilling love over the edges of the stage and onto bowed heads.
An encore happened almost immediately, Atias sharing “Together As One,” a song of his own, with the crowd. Then the most beautiful moment of the evening came as Atias and Marvin played a chilling guitar and vocals-only encore of “Redemption Song.” Atias managed to retain his own vocal identity while simultaneously bringing Marley’s to life, the melody silencing the audience as we stood in awe before the rest of the band emerged to fill out the last few verses.
While I feel the notion of one getting “contact high” is an erroneous myth, the marijuana permeation only added authenticity to the Wailers performance. But it was Elan Atias’ unique ability to channel Bob Marley without sounding forged or fake and the Wailers knack for a consistent and jovial stage presence that made this a comfortable and inviting show.
Bree Davies plays bass in , writes about her obsessions with Iggy Pop and Lil’ Wayne in , and repeatedly fakes her own death at . She is also a self-proclaimed addict.
