Fans of Bob Marley and The Wailers got together on a Friday night at House of Blues Orlando on February 22, 2016. The Kingston, Jamaica reggae outfit have continued to keep Bob’s spirit alive and spread messages of love and solidarity since his devastating death in 1981. The current lineup consists of Aston Barrett (Bass), Aston Barrett Jr. (Organ), Dwayne Anglin (Lead Vocals), Joshua Barrett (Lead Vocals), Cegee Victory (Backing Vocals), Audley Chisholm (Lead Guitar/Backing Vocals), Melvin Glover (Rhythm Guitar), Chaka Taylor (Keyboards), and Anthony Creary (Drums).
It was a chilly night in Orlando, but The Wailers rolled into town and brought the fire. Bassist Aston “Family Man” has been the anchor of the band as the only remaining original member from the Marley days. He brings the authenticity and old school know-how to deliver the heartbeat rhythms that have inspired so much. He played the show sitting on a chair on the back right side of the stage next to the drummer and wore sunglasses the whole time — straight up chillin — with a perpetual quaint smile nearly the entire show. His fingers played those bass lines in a hypnotizing fashionm and I was mesmerized watching from the photo pit for the first few songs.
Song by song, whether they were just lip syncing or screaming at the top of their lungs, almost the entire crowd in the venue was singing along. During the song “Zimbabwe,” I made my way over to the bar to get a drink. While I’m standing there waiting for the bartender, I happen to look at the guy next to me and was about to casually say “What’s up?” but before I could he smiles at me and, at the perfect time with the song, he sings loudly and proudly, “Zimbabwe! Zimbabwe!” I couldn’t help but just smile back and sing along.
The two lead singers of the band, Dwayne and Joshua, received all the help they needed (and more) from the crowd. They got the crowd involved several times with call and response lyrics and chants. It’s easy to imagine that stepping into Marley’s shoes could be somewhat intimidating, but both of these guys didn’t miss a beat. They were definitely channeling Marley’s spirit through the music.
The band finished their set and came back out for what would be an extended encore which started with two members performing the acoustic “Redemption Song” (probably the only Marley song I can play on guitar, hahaa!). The rest of the band then came back on stage. Noticeably missing was Aston Barrett on bass. I’m not sure why, but maybe he just has the one main set in him these days.
Check out my highlight video of the show which includes “Who the Cap Fit,” “No Woman No Cry,” “Redemption Song,” “Jammin’,” “Could You Be Loved,” “Buffalo Soldier,” “Stir It Up,” and “Get Up Stand Up.”
I interviewed singer Dwayne “Danglin” Anglin a few days before the show. I told him about seeing The Wailers on Jam Cruise 2014, seeing sunset as we sailed away from Jamaica and how awesome that was. We also talked about how he landed his gig with the legendary Wailers and how he got his nickname “Danglin,” a combination of the D in Dwayne with his last name. He said he’s a fan of D’Angelo and at first went by D’Anglin (pronounced the same manner that D’Angelo is), but when everyone kept combining it and pronouncing it as “Danglin,” it stuck. He mentioned that the band not only performs the music for the fans, but also for themselves as it means just as much to them. His favorite song to perform live can change on any given day, whichever song they need the most at the time or whatever song they see the crowd enjoying more. He passionately speaks about how The Wailers work with the World Food Program feeding many hungry people around the globe (over 90 million people in over 80 countries) and also bring awareness by spreading the message through the music. We finished the interview with him offering some great advice on staying positive:
Live your life by the second and not by the minute. If you live by the minute, everybody who live by the second will be 60 seconds ahead of you. Let’s live in reality, not perception.”
Listen to the interview in Episode 37 of the Shows I Go To podcast!
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The Wailers Live Review 2016 & Interview by Richie Williams, The Sober Goat, edited by Matthew Weller.
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