Damian and Stephen Marley, Ghetto Youth Crew – Live (June 28th, 2013)

Four days after seeing Ziggy Marley in an intimate theater setting (he looks and sounds more like his father every year!); I headed down to Vegas to see his brothers. The Set Up Shop Tour was designed to complement and promote the recent compilation release Set Up Shop Vol. 1 from Ghetto Youths International, a record label formed by Bob Marley’s sons Julian “JuJu,” Damian “Jr. Gong” and Stephen “Ragga.”

The show started on island time, almost an hour late, but after a day of record heat in the desert, fans were more than content to enjoy the coolness of the pool in front of the stage. The night kicked off with a showcase from Ghetto Youths Crew, which is made up of Black Am I, Jo Mersa (Joseph Marley, Stephen’s son), Wayne Marshall and Christopher Ellis (son of legend Alton Ellis). Each artist showcased their particular style, with rocksteady, reggae, soul, and dancehall showing up. The high energy music got the crowd moving and introduced some great newcomers to those who hadn’t already heard the Set Up Shop release. But the highlight of the Ghetto Youth Crew showcase was a surprise appearance by unbilled Julian Marley who played a few of his songs to a roaring crowd.

After a short reprieve Damian Marley came on to the stage for the headlining set. The already energized crowd erupted as he launched into his blend of dancehall, reggae and hip hop music. He avoided slower songs during the extensive set, most noticeably his popular love ballad Affairs of the Heart, but judging from the smiling faces and dancing bodies, no one cared at all. Drawing extensively from his Welcome to Jamrock release, Marley kept the crowd moving as he seamlessly moved from one song to the next, taking very little time for banter. In addition to the excellent band and beautiful harmony vocalists who were on stage for every artist, Damian’s set also featured a man who waved a flag while dancing the entire time. This was amazing considering the overwhelming heat, especially since he did it with a smile for a set that lasted almost 2 hours. After playing a set in itself of his solo material, Damian brought out his brother Stephen to help him out. They joined each other on their songs and kept things moving. Stephen’s soulful reggae approach balanced Damian’s dancehall energy perfectly and didn’t affect the high paced tempo of the night. Some members of the crowd were clearly there solely for the songs from his Distant Relatives release with Nas, but even they seemed to enjoy the rest of his music. Every time it seemed like the energy and happiness level had reached its peak, it would just keep on rising.

The climax of the night came when Julian returned to the stage with his brothers and the three joined together to sing the songs of their legendary father Bob Marley. As corny and cliché as it sounds, there were very few dry eyes in the crowd at this point. There was a feeling of something otherworldly in the air, as if Bob’s spirit were amongst this small group of music fans spreading his love amongst them all. In hindsight, it may have been the residual effects of a contact high from the excessive amount of pot smoke in the air… but I choose to remember it as a spiritual happening.

As expected when attending a show featuring members of the Marley family, the atmosphere was excessively positive. There was a constant cloud of smoke above the crowd and people were passing around ice cubes from their tin buckets of cold beer to help fight the heat, which Stephen commented was too hot even for Jamaicans. People were dancing with their arms around strangers and singing along to every song. The cool pool and reggae rhythms transformed this intimate setting into a much needed oasis in the fast paced, high stakes neon Babylon that is Las Vegas.