by Micah 'Prof.' Robinson
Greetings, Burning Spear fans, wherever you may be. This is Micah 'Prof.' Robinson coming to you 'from the road'. I will be bringing you, along with other members of the band, this year's diary from the "Don't Hurt the Rastaman" Tour 2001.
North America 2001
We'll be sharing our impressions and thoughts about the people, places and things we encounter on the road.
Well, we're already two weeks into the U.S. leg of the tour and things seem to be coming together nicely. There have been a couple of personnel changes, and the sound is jelling in a different way than it did last year. Dave (Don King) Richards is the new man on bass and Gilbert (Gillie) Spence is on rhythm guitar. Check out the Burning Spear. You'll be so glad you did.
The "Melody Tent". Good name. The place was just overflowing with melody on this night. But, I could tell it would be, from the feeling we got in this undersized, densely seated circus tent type structure. Sound check was very relaxed, yet high energy…everyone seemed to be gearing up for the show hours in advance…relishing the chance to create some magic alongside 'The Burning One'. Everything promised to fall right into place. Mikey is busy fine tuning his drum mix…and I'm standing behind him trying to pick up some knowledge. He has ears like a producer…by the time he's satisfied, you know everyone else will be too. Stewie and Bassie are working on different ways to approach some of the chords in Rocking Time.
The evening was devoted to music and food, and there was plenty of good food for all to enjoy. In fact, the event was called a music and food festival. The different performers that night totally lived up to the Music part of the billing.
The show itself, was quietly intense onstage. In the audience, there was pure celebration. "Jah No Dead" and "Identity" gave them just a small taste of the burning reggae to come.
