If you are in need of a primer on Reggae music, you need look no further than the two acts on top of Saturday's Bayside Rocks Festival at Bayfront Park. In fact it's impossible to imagine the music existing sans the contributions of The Wailers, of whom Bunny Wailer was a founding member, and Toots & The Maytals - who not only named the genre with his song "Do The Reggae" - but helped guide the music from ska to rock steady to reggae and back to ska with countless hits. Toots & The Maytals classics including "Pressure Drop," "Monkey Man," "Sweet & Dandy," "54-46, That's My Number," and "Dog War" have forever colored the world's musical landscape. While it's impossible to quantify the Wailers' musical contribution - just let it be said that their first single was "Simmer Down."
It's an embarrassment of riches that trickles down to their co-headliner, UK reggae legends Steel Pulse, and a strong supporting cast that includes Kingston diva Marcia Griffiths and St Croix rastas Midnight.
In an age where $35 doesn't even buy a ticket to see LCD Soundsystem at the Fillmore - 35 bucks to see the OGs who pioneered the music played on Jamaican soundsystems is the bargain of a lifetime. The first band is at 2. The city shuts the noise off at 11:45. Magic will happen in the middle.
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