Toots and the Maytals // Concorde2

Toots and the Maytals are one of the paramount players to contribute to raggae, the music, the vibe and the love. Their performance in the concorde was without doubt one of the BEST concertes I have ever had the privillage of attending. And I have seen some amazing bands. To deliver the treat we recieved felt priceless, and hearing random shouts from the crowd of “this was worth every penny” one could not differ.

The concorde was hot as ever, but to be there with the sun going down and a really hippy loved up weed vibe was more than appropriate. Following on from an england win in the footie was the perfect end to a beautiful, balmy, summer evening. Totally rammed packed with a disparate mix of serious stoners from “back in the day” to the new generation of rockers and bobbers of recent years that discovered good music, maybe from their parents or maybe just the eloquent taste in music that has emereged in latter years…. The kids dont like steps.. we are more sophisticated than that please. Of course the token mad woman with 18 sunflowers in her hair was propoing up the bar with a red stripe- would be rude not to have one of them at a raggae night eh??

I discovered Toots first from the playlist of growing up with some seriously chilled parents then whilst cooking for snotty skiers of many years as a chalet girl, they were one of the few albumns i owned that held no swearing or serious heavy guitar thrashing. Becoming a staple play list to hours of slaving over dauphinous frekin potatoes… and they were my friends, to put the face to the music was just devine. One of those nights where you make friends with your surrounding fellow rockers in the crowd, must give a shout out to Dolly and her brother for passing the jazz around.

Toots swaggered on stage adorned in what could only be described as some “Bross” etire.. but it worked for him. For a man pushing surely 60 he carried it off with style and panache and looked serioulsy cool. There are few in the world these days that could pull off faded denim and brassy buttons. Flocked by the band- who were so chilled they needed some seating, again looking like they had just stepped out of a game of chess by the river in some new york park. But they rocked and bobbed to the music in unision, the glamour of some sexy backing singers swaying and groving, shaking their booties and not missing a single beat. Opeining the set with a blinder of a track “No Pressure” we sang the antham back to them with lusture and massive smiles. “Soul soul soul”, “Fukiny Kingston” the classic just kept rolling out. I proceeded with my usual steeze of questioning the crowd. “If this music doesnt make you happy, you dont have a heart”. Now someone needs to write a song with those lyrics, so profound, real and spot on. Raggae of an old school vibe of the ilk of the legend bob, their sound was a perfection and maybe a huge contribution to the sound of raggae today. Toots has been covered by the likes of The Clash and The specials. Working in recent years with a diverse range of amazing artists such as The Roots, No Doubt and Eric Clapton. Timeless fantastic music that has lasted decades already, he aint ready to drop yet.

The passion and enthusiasm in his perfromance seems to have remained untainted by years of gigging, tours, partying and no doubt the odd joint. The set rocked on with the band doing “the rounds” of token solos at the end. Sexy ladies giving an absolutely stunning acapello that made you want to hear so much more. The encore screaming and stamping they recieved was wild man. I have never seen a crowd go so crazy for more and deservedly so.

The euporic wonder home was ambling to the sounds of a drunk happy man singing the chorus of “la la la, la la la”. You had to be there but it was a beautiful end to a beautiful night.

Concorde2
http://www.concorde2.co.uk/

Madeira Shelter Hall,
Madeira Drive
Brighton
BN2 1EN

Telephone: 01273 697888
Booking office: 01273 673311
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info@concorde2.co.uk

Words: Catherine