Ziggy Marley Flying Rasta Tour

Written by: Zen Wild

Photos by: Tony Vasquez of Vasquez Photography

Photo Gallery: Ziggy Marley Photos

Ziggy Marley, at the Taft Theatre in Cincinnati, OH, and we’re here. It looks like enough people to fill about every seat in the house are here, too. It’s jam-packed. The aisles are crowded as everyone is trying to find that specific seat on their ticket stubs. I can’t wait. I’ve been wanting to see Ziggy for a long time now, and even had a ticket for his ’02 show in Indianapolis, IN, as part of the Jeep Outdoor World Festival. For some reason or another, Ziggy (and the Melodymakers) couldn’t make it to that date on the tour. My anticipation keeps telling me that the wait is going to be well worth it. Ziggy doesn’t have Stephen (who is also one of my favorites) with him anymore, since his brother is touring on his own, but it doesn’t matter. The show’s going to be great. I can feel it.

When everyone comes on stage, you can see the massive extent of Ziggy’s band. There are two organists/keyboard players, two guitar players (not including Ziggy), two drummers, two female backup singers, and a bassist. Extra percussion instruments are scattered about, as well. The music is going to be thick and layered, and the rhythm, obviously, is going to be strong. What else would be expected from Bob Marley’s eldest son. He’s been doing it since he was a child, along with his brothers and sisters, and although his music has evolved throughout the years, Ziggy’s roots are deep, indeed. Mighty tree, mighty seeds.

Ziggy opens with the title track from his 2006 album, “Love is My Religion”. It’s a beautiful way to open, in my opinion. Ziggy lives as his father lived, with love as an intrinsic part of who he is and how he lives. The band really pours it on, and you can feel the energy about the theatre as people are dancing, clapping, singing, and cheering. When, moments later, the band goes into a cover of Bob Marley’s “So Much Trouble in the World,” a song I constantly find myself singing when I’m alone, the crowd erupts. It’s amazing. I knew that there would be some Bob covers tonight, but I wasn’t sure which ones. For me, Ziggy couldn’t have picked a better one (or would have been hard-pressed to do so) when he picked this one. In all, assuming my count is correct, Ziggy covers 4 of his father’s songs throughout the night: “So Much Trouble in the World,” “Lively Up Yourself,” “One Love,” and “Could You Be Loved.” As I’m writing this, I hope the count is correct. Usually, I write on an electronic device while at a show, but this night, I forget to charge it, and it dies right as the show is starting. I’m working from memory, which in the case of a band that I’ve really been wanting to see, is usually fairly accurate.

As the night goes on, the band plays songs from several of Ziggy’s solo albums, as well as those along with the Melodymakers, including “Wild and Free,” “Personal Revolution,” “Black Cat,” “Beach in Hawaii,” “Rainbow in the Sky,” “Conscious Party,” “Look Who’s Dancing,” “I Don’t Wanna Live On Mars,” and “Fly Rasta.” That doesn’t include all of the songs that he plays, but, in short, the setlist comes from all periods of Ziggy’s personal, musical evolution. Songs are stretched. Solos are extended. Percussion solos dice and chop the rhythm, but keep it constantly moving. It’s absolutely beautiful to see and hear.

I can’t help but to dance throughout the set. Everywhere I look, the other members of the crowd are doing the same thing. Joy is evident upon countless faces. As Ziggy’s father once sang, “Forget your troubles and dance…” That’s what everyone is doing, except, as far as I can see, in one spot. Right next to me, there is a young girl who appears to have come with her dreadlocked grandmother. While the woman I’m assuming is her
Grandmother is dancing during “Could You Be Loved,” which the band plays as part of their encore (an encore undoubtedly earned from a theatre’s worth of people screaming and cheering), this girl is sitting down and checking social media on her phone. I can’t believe it, during “Could You Be Loved,” no less. It appears, to me, to be the only static spot in a sea of movement. I have to say something. So, I lean over and whisper, halting my own dance for a couple seconds, “Why don’t you get up and dance?” She smiles at me, says a few things, which I can hardly hear, and then, a moment or two later, puts up her phone, stands up, and starts to dance. Mission accomplished. Look who’s dancing, now. We’re all doing it. Ziggy brought us all here in the name of music, love, and unity, and from the moment the last note is played on an extended jam of “Fly Rasta,” all the way back to when the first note was struck on “Love Is My Religion,” we’ve been doing it together. Love is my religion. When it comes to Ziggy Marley, it truly is. You have to see him perform in person. It’s a wonderful experience that can’t truly be described with words. I knew it would be worth the wait. Forget your troubles and dance.