Burning Down the House

REGGAE FANS KNOW THAT A BURNING SPEAR CONCERT is an opportunity to gain a little cracker-jack island wisdom from one of the music's mystics. Winston Rodney-the 50-something-year-old St. Ann's, Jamaica, native who adopted his stage name from Kenyan freedom fighter Jomo Kenyatta-arrived at the Theatee District's Roxy Nightclub on the heels of his recent Grammy-winning album Calling Rastafari and with a revamped edition of his Burning Band.

The selection of socially conscious local Boston MCs Illin' P and Mr. Lif as the opening act established the show's political purpose early. While Illin' Ps rhymes were standard hip-hop fare, the dreadlocked Mr. Lif seemed a more impressive and fitting pacesetter for the night. His conga-accompanied spoken word performance addressed issues of race and class, while the crowd was wowed by his impromptu freestyle. Lif's performance during this hour-long performance set the stage perfectly for the Spear.

The restless audience waited nearly an hour after the opening act-and three hours after the 8 p.m. door opening - before the Burning Band finally took the stage. This patience paid off. The Burning Band tore into the music from the Spear's most famous song, "Marcus Garvey," and got heads nodding and bodies bouncing immediately. After five minutes or so of this jam, Burning Spear finally joined his band on stage. With his shirt partly tucked and his tie loosely knotted, the Spear seemed to make a rather casual nod toward formality. After introducing the lyrics to another of his '70s classics, "Jah No Dead," the Spear finished the tune out in the same manner that he would close many songs throughout the show-wailing away at his congas.

Critics claim that all of Burning Spear's albums sound the same. Likewise, there was little to distinguish one tune from another throughout the night. Fortunately, this amounted to a constant musical high maintained throughout the performance. While the Spear's vocals were occasionally unintelligible, the groove was always clear and deep.

Much of the credit for the concert's success must be given to the band. The Burning Band horns' slide and two-step dance was reminiscent of James Brown's bands, while their horn lines were full of jazz and folk riffs. It is the band that must be given much of the credit for raising the energy level of some of Burning Spear's more recent tunes, such as "Calling Rastafari" and "Statue of Liberty," both of which are rather low-key on the recorded versions.

However, most of the audience's focus-when it wasn't on their chosen dance partner-was on the Spear. Every time he raised his voice, the crowd went wild, hooting and waving Jamaican flags. And Burning Spear seemed to feed off of the crowd's energy as he chanted and scatted his way through "I and I Survive." Now and again, he would egg the crowd on, asking, "Do you want some more?" Then, responding to the crowd's cheering response, he would add, "Then I will give yo' ass some more!"

After Burning Spear's hour-long performance, the crowd did indeed want more. And so the Spear gave them more-in an hour-long encore performance. At 1:15 a.m., an exhausted and sweat-drenched Boston University student articulated the collective sentiment. "Wow. I actually got a chance to have my consciousness raised and party at the same time!" Political reggae that moves behinds. That's what Burning Spear is all about.

BURNING SPEAR

at

The Roxy

November 18

at

The Roxy

November 18