Before return to Clearwater, UB40’s Jimmy Brown recalls the best gig he ever saw

Birmingham reggae-rock outfit UB40 has been celebrating its 45th anniversary with a seemingly constant tour schedule, and an album of both new material and re-recordings, aptly titled UB45.

As you’d expect with a new record like that, UB40’s second appearance at Coachman Park venue The Baycare Sound will see the band do the career retrospective thing with Londoner rock band The Fixx opening.

Ahead of this month’s Bay area gig, UB40’s original drummer Jimmy Brown revealed the best gig he ever saw being any reggae lover’s dream: Bob Marley and The Wailers in their prime.

Read his full quote below.

UB40 members all have different tastes in music, I saw gigs by artists such as Parliament and Funkadelic, the Crusaders, Billy Cobham, James Brown, Matumbi, the Cimarron’s, Rufus and Chaka Khan, all back in the 1970’s when we were teenagers. But I think I can safely say on behalf of ALL the band that the single gig that had the most profound effect on the whole band was when we went to see Bob Marley and the Wailers back in 1976 at the local Odeon, supported by Third World. This was some time before we actually put the band together, and we all agree that it was the one moment when the idea of starting a band was fully realized.

From the moment we entered the auditorium the atmosphere was throbbing with excitement. This was before Marley broke really big, so there was a sense that, even though the theatre was packed to the rafters, this was still an underground experience. Marley was political and subversive. A dangerous voice. Already posters of Bob had started replacing posters of Che Guevara on teenage bedroom walls as the contemporary voice of revolution. A catalyst and focus of teenage anger, particularly the black youth of the UK. Expectation was sky-high.

We arrived at the end of Third Worlds’ set, so the audience were already on their feet dancing. When Marley came on, the place erupted. He had already released a handful of albums, so all the songs were familiar. The same set would be released later that year called “Live at the Lyceum.” The whole experience was a revelation. The sheer class of the musicianship on display from the Barrett brothers was peerless, Carlton and Family Man Barrett (who we later worked with) were the actual originators of the music. The people who actually shaped the music from its origins. They had astonishing technique but never lost sight of that raw energy that powered the music. Dark energy. Uplifting, but serious too. All fronted by one of the most charismatic front men who ever performed on stage.

The sheer power and freshness of the music was like an electric charge through the room. And it was at that moment, witnessing the power of live music, that we all agreed that it was what we wanted to do. From that experience we all decided to forget everything else and focus on the band and music. A life-changing experience indeed. -Jimmy Brown, UB40

Tickets to see UB40 and The Fixx play Clearwater’s The BayCare Sound on Thursday, Aug. 21 are still available and start at $43.
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This article appears in Aug 7-13, 2025.