JAH in concert :D

[Snoogans4Jay]

I WISH I could have gone, but Elisabeth did How was Jah, TELL US EVERYTHING cause........well......inquiring minds

[elisabeth]

Oh yay! You've made a special thread or everything. I must say writing reviews isn't quite my forte, but I'm glad I get to share my experience, most people around here haven't got a clue who he is so they wont understand my excitement.

The event started at 22.00 PM and was in this really fancy art gallery, the whole place had a very surreal feeling like light-shows and video-montages on the walls, the bands performed in three different rooms. Jah Wobble and the English Roots Band (who's work I must say I'm not familiar with) were supposed to come on stage at 2.15 AM so me and my friend had a few hours to check out some of the other stuff like Broken Time Orchestra, Jimi Tenor & Kabu Kabu and quite a few other interesting artists. When we went there we expected to see like these really posh people drinking whine and being really dressed up, but it was quite the opposite, people from all walks of life were hanging around with mugs of beer and being very relaxed. I thought there'd be nothing much besides Wobble to see there but I was wrong, by the time clock started reaching 2 AM my feet were killing me because I'd been bouncing and jumping to the music all that time ( I've got a great hint for you, wearing heels to a place like this isn't the cleverest idea ; P), we had decided to go to the main hall a bit before Wobble came on so we could get a good place in front of the stage and it was just packed but we managed to work our way to the front, so when Jah Wobble and the English Roots Band came on, we were at the center of the front row, leaning on the stage, right next to the amplifiers. Now, I'm really embarrassed to say I didn't know any of the songs they were playing, but the bass sounded exactly like in PIL, only with years of more experience (And the bass was what i was there to hear). And I think I recognized many of the basslines, one of the songs started off exactly like PIL-public image and the crowd got all excited (well even more excited) for a second but then it went on completely different. Wobble is amazing on stage though, it's difficult to describe the experience, there were I think 6 people on stage besides him and he kind of directed all of them like they were his instruments too and he did the same with the audience. He's one of those artist who really really enjoys what he's doing on stage. he was very interactive with the audience and with his fellow performers, they didn't come on stage doing like a standard set of songs but kind of went along with audience's mood. And watching him play bass was amazing (I'm so not over-using that word ), he was extremely impressive and had awesome moves. And he sang! That's the first time I heard him do that, it worked very well with the lead singers' voices. An hour and an half of listening to Jah Wobble's bass combined with an interesting band (who I really didn't pay attention to in this wanting-to-be-a-review-thingy [but hey, it's Jah's board!]) was pure heaven. But I'm kind of sad, that event just showed me how amazing it must've been to see the original PIL line-up perform live.

I'm still really overwhelmed, without any doubt one of the best concerts I've been to!

I'll try to find some photo's of the concert later, there were a lot of cameras around so something will probably be uploaded somewhere soon. I'm kind of sorry I didn't bring my digital camera along but I'll be smarter next time, because if I ever have the opportunity, there WILL be a next time. This post doesn't quite qualify as a review, but hey, what do you expect, I haven't slept in at least 24 hours, but it was all worth it!

[Tao~]

Elisabeth...you review was AMAZING!!! I felt the atmosphere just as you had described it!!! I think that that was so cool to see Jah in avenue like that!!! I am so sorry your feet gave you trouble...but I am still very excited that you loved Jah's music....If only I could ever be so lucky!!!! It sounds like it was a very interesting and fun night........thank you for sharing your great review with us........ I cannot begin to tell you how much of a Jah fan I am.........

[Snoogans4Jay]

It sounds like it was WONDERFUL! I love Jah's basslines (even though no musician am I)......and like you I am bad to wear heels to shows and then PAY the hell for it the next day (and that night).........I would love to meet that man (and say "where's Johnny?" and get my ass kicked ) You are so lucky to have gotten to go (and on such short notice of the show)......... I wouldn't have known any of the songs either.....