by Gregory 'Bassie' Jackson
Here is a CODA: which is a musical term for a tag at the end of a tune… dig?
Bassie here checking in with some bits and pieces for Spear fans worldwide… I'm in my artist's laboratory somewhere outside the USA's capitol… going to the gym… rehabing from all this traveling… and working in my studio, building beats and things…
While on tour… usually after the hit… when the last note has rung… and Spear has long left the building… many of y'all been waiting at the foot of the stage… wondering if you could know what our set list is like…
Mostly it is Cecil… the lead guits… whom the Wailers used to tease by calling Hendrix… smile… good comparison though… but Cecil has another dimension too… but check it out… Cecil had a folder with extra lists for us… sometimes Stewart would bump a few from him… and every night you would see Cecil taping down a list for the Boss… in front of Mr. Rodney's monitor speakers… yeah…
Cecil was good for that… thanks man… Stewart would come around and make sure we all knew about some revisions in the basic list… and many times we did it… The boss has ideas about what he wants to present each and every night… so we were always prepared for changes… which is why at sound check for example… we would run through new things… or pull stuff from the vaults that the boss indicated he was interested in trying out…
Songs like Institution… Traveling… Love to You… Lets Move yunno… and much more… many more…
We always had the music on hand… I have a pretty good archive… although I gave up a nice cassette to a brother in the market in South Africa… nice man… gave me a mask when I didn't have the money… so I gave him a cassette… later… I came back and gave him the money… "keep the cassette" I said…
Ok… so check this out… here is a copy of the set list for October 11, 2000 Aspen Colorado… At that time we were in Aspen for our second date there… the first being the Aspen Jazz Festival… which we tore up… so when we came back through to Aspen… there was a buzz in town… definitely…
Mikey, Cecil and Me went on a shopping spree with Jeremy… a friend of Spear from Portland… big up Jeremy!! We bought a barrel full of c.d.'s after sound check… and Mikey was on the Bushman tip… right Mikey…?! Hail up to the drummer by the way… You out there man…? yeah I know you are… the G3 kid up in here… your bassie… see ya soon Mikey…!!
Cecil… shoot… I don't know what Cecil got… oh yeah… I remember Joe Satriani… and Rage Against The Machine… Jeremy was in there… but I forgot what he got… and i got a bunch of stuff too… even went back to pick up the Battle for Los Angeles by Rage Against The Machine… yunno… also a collection of Black Disciples riddims by Jack Ruby… Heartbeat… whats up Josh… you out there too!! Gave that one to Spear after a couple of listens though… the band was grooving to it hard… but I thought the boss outta have it… yunno…
Ok… so here's the list…
INTRO (straight into Jah No Dead)
The Youth (this has a nice trumpet solo in the middle…)
Old Marcus Garvey (Cecil lets his stratocastor rip on this one)
This Man (the kick drum just don't stop… go Mikey, go…)
Postman (This one is hypnotic… nice call and response section)
Man in the Hills (one of my favorites…)
Calling Rastafari (check out the dub section… live…)
We Been There (another heavy dub work out towards the end…)
Slavery Days (classic… Spear burns the fire hot… nightly…!)
Identity (Check the Lyrics… often its an encore tune too…)
Tumble Down (Ok Clyde… you got your mic… and your in ear monitors… notice him walking around stage on his solo…!!)
Burning Reggae (jazzy reggae…)
Mi Gi Dem (check the lyrics… are you listening… SpearBurning)
Rocking Time (Me and Mikey smiling at each other… nice groove)
Red, Green, and Gold (one of my favorites…!)
Nya Kieth (Bynghi vibes must a gwaan… yunno…)
Door Peep (i don't need to say nothing about this one…)
Happy Day (the horn line always gits em… and the tag at the end with Spear and the band is fun…)
Coda: time to pack up and take a hot shower… say hi to the few of y'all be hanging around… and to chill with Tedo and Sylvan… and to hail up Virgo on the mix… The boss… Mr. Rodney… he and James gone on the first transit to the hotel… General… and Big Bro'…
later y'alll this is Bassie… going to go back up to my lab… yunno…
Happy New Year…
Drop us a line on the message board… till next time… 1 luv…
