Jimmy Cliff – Powerstation

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DSC_9703It was nothing short of a two-hour celebration of music, love and life as reggae legend Jimmy Cliff led his 8-piece band and a very enthusiastic crowd through a Saturday night of singing, dancing and cheering.

When I spoke to Jimmy Cliff a couple of days ago, he told me he was feeling more creative than ever. At 66-years old, the man who wrote The Harder They Come, Many Rivers To Cross and Wonderful World, Beautiful People also seems to have more energy than ever as he danced, strutted and even leg-kicked his way through a set that kept fans dancing non-stop.

Although Jimmy and his band didn’t take the stage until 10pm, this was no, quick, run-through-the-hits show.

First the bandmembers took their places on the dark stage and laid down a solid groove to get the audience moving. Then, the trumpet player asked, “Are you ready?” and Mr Cliff appeared, dressed in a snazzy silver jacket.

The eight bandmembers (2 keyboard players, guitar, bass, drums, trumpet, sax, female backing vocalist…sorry, no names given) were all dressed in matching yellow Jimmy Cliff T-shirts.

They all, including Jimmy, took seats on the stage and picked up percussion instruments playing and singing a rousing version of Bongo Man that segued in Rivers Of Babylon.

It was breathtaking.

“I am Jimmy Cliff!” proclaimed the reggae star, his arms held over his head. As if you prove his greatness he and the band launched in to You Can Get It If You Really Try and the crowd virtually exploded…singing and dancing their hearts out. Cliff punctuated the excitement with the first of several high leg kicks.

Jimmy’s version of Cat Stevens’ Wild World had arms waving while the fans sang along. It was one of the few moments when Cliff’s own vocals were a bit off key…otherwise the rest of the night he was spot on.

It wasn’t all uptempo dance tunes…Cliff peppered the set with a few ballads such as Human Touch and the epic Many Rivers To Cross, which Jimmy prefaced with a story of how the song was originally recorded as an afterthought at a recording session that had just about ended.

There were a few new songs included in the set…Jimmy is working on a sequel to The Harder They Come…the most notable being as song that contained the lyric, “video killed the radio star, but the internet killed them all”.

Jimmy’s classic protest song, Vietnam was updated to include Afghanistan and The Harder They Come, which surprisingly, didn’t end the set, received the loudest ovation of the evening.

He could have ended things there, but there was much more music to come.

Roots Woman kept the crowd moving and the set closed with a celebratory Reggae Night, complete with a poppin’ bass solo.

At this point there was no way the crowd was going to let the night end, chanting “Jimmy Cliff” until he and the band returned for a big singalong to One More.

Even as the clock neared midnight, the fans wanted more, chanting “One More”, for nearly five minutes. The lights remained down, and it seemed like a perfect opportunity to close with Wonderful World, Beautiful People, but alas, it was not to be.

Jimmy Cliff left them wanting more.

Marty Duda

Click on any image to view a photo gallery by Michael Flynn:

Jimmy Cliff set list:

    1. Bongo Man/Rivers Of Babylon
    2. You Can Get It If You Really Try
    3. This Is My Love Song
    4. Treat The Youths Right
    5. Rub-A-Dub Partner
    6. Wild World
    7. Under The Sun, Moon And Stars
    8. Better Everyday
    9. Rebel Rebel
    10. Human Touch
    11. Vietnam (Afghanistan)
    12. Internet Killed Them All
    13. I Can See Clearly Now
    14. The Harder They Come
    15. Hakuna Matata (The Lion King)
    16. Many Rivers To Cross
    17. Roots Woman
    18. Oh My Goddess
    19. Reggae Night
    20. One More

Watch The 13th Floor interview with Jimmy Cliff here:[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82y12UMkRaY]

Marty Duda
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