Review: In St. Pete, Stephen Marley delivers ethereal takes on his and dad’s songs at Jannus Live (w/photos)

A bus to Babylon stopped at St. Petersburg’s Jannus Live last night when Stephen Marley—an eight-time Grammy-winning reggae artist, and second eldest son of reggae legend Bob Marley—left nothing to be desired in an absolutely ethereal performance.

After two openers, Blvk H3ro and The Ries Brothers, Marley’s band took the stage. The audience, characterized by a vocal and vibrant multi-ethnic, multi-generational mix of reggae loving hippies, began chanting Stephen’s name as his band played the beginning notes to “Natural Mystic”. In complete darkness, Marley strutted out onto the stage as the stage lights beamed in rhythm to the song, an audience classic by his legendary father. “My name is Stephen Marley, and I’ve brought you some reggae music!”, he said, wasting no time declaring and describing the injustices of the world in songs like “Buffalo Soldier” and “I Shot the Sheriff.” Stephen was jamming, so much so that it felt like his iconic father was speaking through him. For the next 30 minutes or so, he covered his father’s culture shifting anthems—“Get Up, Stand Up”, “No Woman No Cry” and “Burnin’ and Lootin’”—and had complete control of the crowd and had Jannus moving and grooving wall to wall.

As he moved on to newer songs in his catalog, such as “Chase Dem”, “Hey Baby” and “Iron Bars”, Marley was deft on guitar as he grooved with his band, clearly improvising towards the end of his songs which were followed up with a groove so reckless and quick, it continually left the audience breathless. In great Marley fashion, Stephen continued with records such as “Road to Zion” and “Medication”, which debuted in his brother Damian Marley’s hit album “Welcome to Jamrock”. In conjunction with plumes of smoke and an array of carefully programmed stage lights, Stephen continued to command the crowd, repeatedly asking “How you feeling?” and receiving an ecstatic cheer every time. As the 90-minute sermon came to a close, Stephen jumped back into his legendary father’s proclamations, speaking life into the crowd with records such as “Jammin”, “Three Little Birds” and “One Love”, before ending the show with the appropriate lyrics “One love, one heart. Let’s get together and feel all right.”

Earlier in the evening, Blvk H3ro, a Jamaican native, warmed up the crowd. For his first time in the United States, Blvk H3ro seemed to be no stranger to the stage. With songs such as “Original” and “Rich and Blessed”, his consistent energy, message of love, and acapella capabilities were awe striking, to say the least. In succession, The Ries Brothers, native to St. Petersburg, had Jannus packed hours before Mr. Marley graced the stage. With records such as “Corner Store” and “Don’t Want to Be Late”, the brothers displayed incredible talent on the drums and guitar, respectively. By the end of the brothers’ set, the guitar had been switched out for an electric ukulele and glow in the dark drumsticks replaced the stereotypical wooden drumsticks. As the brothers improvised off each other, their chemistry and talent had left the crowd inspired, longing for more.

Jannus, an outdoor venue, offered a spacious but intimate setting which allowed concert goers the choice between grooving in the crowd or vibing by themselves. The set stage had ample, clear sound which reverberated throughout the courtyard, packed to its capacity of 2,000.