by Gregory 'Bassie' Jackson
Greetings from Durban, South Africa… Burning Spear, Culture, and the Wailers… three the hard way…!!! We're here on the coast of the Indian Ocean… right on the waterfront… sweet vibes… I'm here with George Kouakou, keys man with the Wailers and Culture… we are doing the internet thing… yunno… smile… up here in the business center of the Holiday Inn… yeah… big up to all the crew…
So everyone wants to know what the shows were like here in Africa huh? smile… well let me tell you it was nothing less than MASSIVE!… yeah… Imagine a triple bill like this in the states… man…!!!
Firstly… we hooked up in Kennedy in New York for the flight to Capetown… which is a sweet coastly town on the south… noted for where the two oceans meet… and the Table Mountains… where the clouds drip over the edge during the day… we took a ride… Virgo… Tedo, Gene, Cecil and myself… went up and take nuff pictures and things… laugh a lot… and realize that we hit the rock… our first time for all of us… we had a good time…
Sound check was dope too… the hit was out in a spot called Century City… under a tent… a huge tent mind you…
We had a nice time during our outing during the day… but around 6:00 p.m. the time difference… jet lag… it hit hard… I had to take a nap… and ended up deep in the "cave"… had to have water thrown on me to get up…
Oh… but before I go into that… I need to tell you about the welcome party… yeah… when we arrived at the hotel… we had a nice greetings… African style… with cool drinks… and smiles… and lots of good vibes… all of us… in there… let me tell you it was great just to be rubbing shoulders with Familyman Barrett… and Wya Lindo… and these great men from Culture… Joseph Hill and Spear conferencing on one end of the hall… Wya and men… it was a cool vibes… yunno…
Later some of us took off into town to a little dance hall… where they kept a session… we had some fish cooked up spicey and nice… with rice… and salad… we took nuff pictures… sure it was like a reunion of sorts… even though it was only a few weeks since we have been off… Its always good to get back into the swing… the Spear Swing…
We ate nuff… and drank two African beers… and had a nice time… very nice time listening to some local reggae on the sound system… and sure… even a few Bob tunes… and Spear tunes… it was a nice flow…
So… back to the first show… off the hook… most of us from the Spear crew arrived early to catch Culture tear up the place… the people went crazy… as they kicked into tunes like Two Sevens Clash and International Herb… yunno them tunes… Tedo and Sylvan and myself dancing in the wings… nice flow…
Later Wailers came in and tore up the place even more… just continuing with the hardcore vibes… phat bass up all in the place… and the bubbling keys and the vocals soaring… nice vibes…
Bout half way through the Wailers… Spear and the rest of the crew showed up… I greet Mr. Rodney backstage in the dressing room… and got in a bit of quiet time before the hit… sipping some energy drink and things…
The tension mounted as we set up… we were ready… some minor tech problems… we had to just let go of that… and hit it… and as we went into it… everything… the anxiety… sure… all that just melted away…
We kicked into our set… and it was so so phat… I mean the sound was huge!!! Spear just soared on top… and the crowd went into this mystic skank… we could see them… the first few rows… with huge african smiles… a melting pot of folks… white, black, mix… everybody just melted away into a mystic stew…
I must be honest… after a few moments… it was just the most high guiding my hands… I was just witness to things… it was a sweet feeling…
Later after the gig… we cool out on a pleasant ride… with the window open in the van home… where we hung out in the lobby chatting to folks… into the wee hours of the morning… occasionally Cecil, Mikey, Stewart and a few others would pass by… we were on a mission for some grub… some food… but couldn't get a menu for a good while…
Finally… after what seemed eternal patience… we got a menu… and ordered some grub… me and Cecil… Ken Joseph, drummer from Culture enjoyed some food in the lobby brought to us on a rolling tray… we tore it up…
The next day… we all took off to the airport and flew out to J-town… where we stayed at intimate and stylish hotel… another holiday inn… but had some nice vibes… with sofas… and overstuffed chairs in the living room area… a nice little pool with a fountain… and birds walking on the grass… strange birds to my eyes…
No sound check… time to rest… which is what I sure did… pulled the curtains and just knocked out… later we took off to the venue… I forget the time…
I think that show sounded even better than the first…!!! Spear was flashing his locks… and struck an almost prophet like pose… with his head bent… his fist thrust in the air… shaking his head…
We kicked off our first show with Marcus Garvey… this show began with Door Peep and a few others… wicked vibes… I can feel people gasping for air… as Spear took off into flight…
He made mention of coming home… and sent greetings to all South African…
It was a special vibes in J-burg… the hot hot city…
Back stage before the show… Spear, Mrs. Rodney, Myself… Professor Robinson, and James… and Cecil go over an interesting run down on the connection among all Africans… it was nice… backstage… as the floor rumbled to Fams bass… and the like of the drums… Spear explaining how his experiences and Africa have been… from his time in Senegal… to Nigeria… and here… South Africa…
We had a nice flow… backstage flow… private… Sylvan gave me a flag… and asked me to control it… thanks Sylvan… I fly the flag from the Ampeg rig I've been using…
Stewart came with some new lines to work into our intro… I like these guys… talk about discipline… all of us have it… it runs from the top down… a change…? no problem… we can hang with it… we anticipate anything… sometimes when you hear us hit from one tune to the next… with no break… that decision came quick and fast… and we all adjust…
J-burg was nothing less than mesmerizing… but the strange thing with the African experience so far… even up to this point… is that it doesn't feel much different than being in Europe or the States… this place is so "developed" the highways… and byways… what makes this special… for me and many of the others… like Stewart, Clydie… and Sylvan… Mikey… as we sat in the lobby after the stadium affair last night… was the people… the people… the diverse mix… we met Zulu's who gave us new names… and just everyday folks… like the sort that Professor Robinson was playing ball with… basketball… at the waterfront… the Indian Ocean… He said… "yeah man… I played a few games with them… they got game too!!" smile… yunno… the brothers in the hotel here who played reggae for us… a local band… as we arrived… or the multitude we met in the airports… dreads, afro's… all sorts… who waited for us… flying the red green and gold…
love to all… this is bassie… time to take a little break from the touring business… I love you all… that's right… the band… you guys are the best to work with in the business… its an honor… Mrs. Rodney… thanks so much for everything… so many folks along the journey we have made this year from New Zealand to Africa… and finally to Mr. Rodney… thanks father for the opportunity to share… and to build… and to support you… and your message… thank you…
Love up… live well… and with Jah guidance and protection we can meet again… like we never met before… smile…
Gregory…
