Sat 2/16 @ 3-7PM
Everyone who is into reggae—and a lot of people who aren’t—knows who Bob Marley is. While the genre which emerged from Jamaica in the late 60s blending ska, rocksteady and &B influences, has many sires and has had a number of big stars, it’s most dominant figure was Bob Marley who died in 1981 at the age of 36 of a rare cancer. Marley’s tunes comprise the bedrock repertoire of many reggae bands to this day and many celebrations are held in his honor (often around his February 6 birthday).
Cleveland’s best-known reggae figure—its own Bob Marley, if you will—is Carlos Jones, who started performing with I-Tal, Cleveland’s first reggae crossover band, in the late 70s, and went on to become one of the frontmen for First Light, who reigned as one of Cleveland’s most popular bands of any genre from 1984-1998. Carlos continued to carry the reggae torch with his own band, Carlos Jones & the P.L.U.S. Band, one of the area’s biggest draws to this day.
So it’s natural that that band will headlining a Bob Marley birthday celebration, a tradition they began at the Parkview Tavern in Gordon Square with their annual Reggae Brunch. That tradition was interrupted in 2020 after 24 years by the pandemic and never revived. So the band has reinvented it as a special afternoon concert at the Beachland Ballroom. DJ Bryan Watson will get the party started spinning reggae tunes, followed by a performance by Ms. BBC & the Queens — four female vocalists from several other groups. Then Carlos and P.L.U.S. will hit the stagem with the vocal group, the Hue People, joining them on a few songs.
There’ll be Jamaican vendors and Jamaican-style food provided by Tremont’s Hooper Farms. Get tickets here.