The Lab at Fool’s Paradise, Sun 23 Feb

Big call that – claiming that reggae changed the world! It certainly had a huge impact on the world of popular music but what Duane Forrest really wants to sing and talk about is how reggae changed his world. Raised in Toronto by parents born in Jamaica he spent a lot of his youth trying to fit into the white world he found himself in, and only when Marley and the reggae sensation reached Canada did everything fall into place for him.

Forrest now has a fine set of dreadlocks, and just like Marley was, is a fine looking man with a radiant smile. Apart from sharing the music he loves Forrest wants us all to feel good and this in part is done by encouraging his audience to sing along whenever they feel like it. And with songs like One Love, Every Little Thing, and No Woman No Cry there are plenty of positive lyrics to get everyone feeling warm and fuzzy.

Which is great. But there’s another side to Marley’s music that has a much more serious aspect. Like it or not Marley was a political figure in an extremely volatile period of Jamaican history. His people actually persuaded him to leave Jamaica for several years for his own safety and he spent that time in England as a defacto refugee.  Forrest touches on this darker side of the Marley story just briefly, and then quickly returns to the good vibes material.

And he does it really well. He has a great voice very much suited to Marley’s songs. He played an electric nylon string guitar with no pick and offered up those infectious reggae rhythms with some great syncopation.

The audience really appreciated his personal stories and extra inside information behind phrases like ‘buffalo soldier’, ‘government yard in Trenchtown’, I and I, Mt Zion. For me the standout was what Forrest labelled the most important reggae song ever – No Woman No Cry. There were a couple of fluffy feel good songs towards the end that leaned too far towards the schmaltz dial for me but the poignant finish with Redemption Song was exactly the right way to wrap things up.

A great show really. Forest has a lovely stage manner and is a fine performer. Just reckon it needed a little more edge to faithfully represent the whole of Marley’s life and music.

Reggae music – and Marley’s music in particular – showed how powerful popular culture could be when it offered implicit political commentary and promoted shared ideals. And they spread like wildfire. As Forrest noted, it doesn’t matter where you go in this world, people know Bob Marley. His influence was huge.