The Wailers are undeniably legendary, with or without Bob Marley. Unfortunately the only reason most people know about them is because of Bob Marley. I myself and guilty of this, but I think, at this point, that's nothing to be ashamed of. Out of all the jammers and reggae influenced groups that I saw over the course of these two days, they all paled in comparison to the Wailers. They came on and started pumping out a deeeeeeep dub track with one of the horn players yelling something inaudible over the bass and the beat. It was an experience I don't think anyone was expecting. The thing that really surprised me what that, after the vocalist and the back up singers came out and the show really started, I really enjoyed the set. It was like a mix of soul, old school R&B, and dub reggae in the style of the Spacemonkeyz vs. Gorillaz album (not the best point of refference for some people, but if you know what I'm talking about, you really know what I'm talking about). I don't like contemporary reggae or really anything that is influenced by reggae, so to hear reggae live that I like (I like the really poorly recorded reggae ... that's just how I think it ought to sound) was a real eye opener. I doubt, however, that I will ever see an act like this again, however, because their sound is, as far as I've been able to tell, fairly hard to duplicate.
The Wailers - Mashi
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