A Bob Marley Day Where Raunchy Overwhelms Righteousness

Saturday, February 26, 2005, was the 12th Annual Bob Marley Day Festival in Miami. I have been to several of the shows over the years and it has always been a wonderful day. This year a $28.50 ticket and four cans of food products got you admission to the 12 hour event. Part of the proceeds from ticket sales and the contributions of canned food products are donated each year to help feed people in need in the Miami area. The show has usually been scheduled closer to Bob’s February 6th Birthday. This year, Bob’s talented children, who always headline the show, were in Ethiopia for a special celebration marking what would have been Bob’s 60th Birthday so the show was pushed back in the month.

When I saw the initial flyer for the show, I was excited to see most of the Marley brothers in the line-up. Elephant Man and Beenie Man were on the list too. What seemed really missing though was, other than the Marley Brothers, there didn’t seem to be much Roots “One Drop” Beat Reggae which of course is what Bob’s music is all about. More than that, it is Music with Spirit and a Conscious message. What we got on this day in the park was hours of non-conscious, slang and foul language gangster rap booty calls from a bunch of performers about as far from the Spirit of Bob Marley as you could get. Not saying there was no talent on the stage, just that it was the wrong time and place for it. Past years have seen great performances by many of the top name in Reggae – not this year. Even if none of the big name talent was available, there are a bunch of local Reggae bands that would have loved a chance to get up on the stage at Bayfront. What we got was NO REGGAE until nearly 10PM and up till then we got a few thousand four letter words, hardcore, often X-Rated hip-hop raps. I think Bob was probably turning over in his grave with the message delivered by the lyrics delivered from the stage most of the day. Let’s hope next year we can have positive Reggae Vibes fill the Bob Marley Day in Miami.