Friday night's Lee "Scratch" Perry show at the Town Ballroom was something else all right. The intimate Town Ballroom crowd was treated to a heavy night of music and history, with a little endurance test thrown in at the end. Talking to people before the show I definitely had a sense of what the night was all about. Chris from Wolf Tickets, the band that opened the evening explained that his punk band was on the bill for a roots reggae show due to their Clash vibe and Perry's deep connection to the Clash. Perry's also the guy who mentored Bob Marley to be true to himself and be honest with his music, instead of peddling reggae cheese, and the guy who created dub music after codifying the form called "roots reggae." Lee "Scratch" Perry's just got mad history trailing in his wake, so anticipation among the knowledgeable crowd was high for something...
After a fine set from Wolf Tickets and an enjoyable interstitial set from DJ Universal, the incense was lit, Lee "Scratch" Perry bounced onto the stage, and things got weird. The reggae was indeed heavy duty, with the music pulsating through you and the diminutive and seemingly ageless Perry bouncing around onstage, exhorting the crowd to get free and prophesying. Prophesying what I have no idea because he was kind of hard to understand and I was pretty wasted, plus again his reggae was seriously heavy. The modest crowd was all in for the experience and liberation was achieved. But then the band kept playing... and playing. Perry was clearly in the zone, and nobody was going to the tell the great man anything because he just kept going and going, testifying in his barely comprehensible elvish Jamaican voice and bouncing around indefatigably while the crowd thinned, until after 1 AM Perry said "good night!" (I understood that) and the show abruptly ended for the diminished crowd that was left. The great man's mission was done for the night, and it was over.
Amazing show... kinda like a reggae marathon with stylish boots and boxing shorts! I hope more roots, ska and dub legends come to buffalo soon!!!