The Wailers @ The Chance, Poughkeepsie, NY
Live Reviews | Jul 18th, 2001
Date: July 18th 2001
Venue: The Chance Poughkeepsie NY
Well I never had the pleasure of seeing Bob Marley play but I guess seeing The Wailers will be the closest thing to it. Got at the club at 8:45 PM, not that crowded as to what I was expecting. Before the bands came on, some old hippy reggae lady came on and was talking to the crowd, about Dennis Brown and the first band. She was crying when talking about Dennis Brown. She was a little weird.
But anyway, the first band was from CT and Brooklyn and they played pretty good. They were called Soulution and the drummer sang a lot of the songs. I think the mics were messed up because it seemed like I couldn’t hear certain members singing. But I thought they did a good job. Next band was some reggae band from Woodstock. The singer was some old lady that looked like she was a hermit and just came out. They were really preachy about religion and I didn’t think she had a great voice either.
A little bit later the Wailers finally came on. I walked up stairs at the chance to get a different spot and get away from a smelly pot smoker. haha. The club was now completely filled and ready for the Wailers. Most of the Wailers were on stage and the packed crowd was dancing when they started off with two instrumentals. I was starting to get nervous because I didn’t see a singer or anyone around. Then a singer who looked, acted and sang like Bob Marley came on the stage. I felt weird watching the Wailers play. It felt like I was watching a really good cover band. The singer who’s name I don’t know (he might be one of the Marleys, I don’t know) even mentioned that it’s okay to play Bob’s songs and such.
They played an hour and half straight through before I left but the songs that I knew the most were “Natural Mystic,” “Real Situation, “Trenchtown Rock,” “I Shot The Sheriff,” “War,” “Roots Rock Reggae,” “Them Bully Full,” “No Woman No Cry,” and “Get Up Stand Up.” They played really good, but it felt weird seeing none of the three true member there. Tosh and Marley are dead, and Bunny Wailer is not in the band anymore, at least I think he’s still alive. No I Threes, and now they just have one back up singer. Al Anderson and Family Man Barrett were there, and I think some other original Wailers were there as well. It was definitely a good time and great to see the Wailers though.
