Live Review: The Wailers, Mumma Trees

No doubt something of a dream guest slot, a shiny and mostly happy Mumma Trees prepared the Perth audience (a pan-generational crowd with a light scattering of dreadlocks) with a pop-orientated dancehall set. Reinforced by two backing singers and a DJ, who for the most part appeared to be technically unemployed, Ms Trees presented a well-polished performance with good fundamentals, but she needs to find something unique if she's to stand out from the crowd.

No strangers to adulation, The Wailers were the personification of chilled as they acknowledged the welcoming applause and proceeded to leisurely peel off one global smash after another. The band members kept a pretty low profile, none more so than the legendary Aston "Family Man" Barrett, Bob Marley's former right-hand-man and band leader, who kept his face hidden beneath a trilby hat and spent most of the gig perched on a stool. Fair enough too, if I'd fathered 52 children I'd probably need to rest my knees a bit too!

The introduction of Stir It Up inspired an outbreak of sensuous undulations among the throbbing masses; steamy scenes inside the pit of winding bodies. Surprisingly, the saucy dancing continued into the angry political numbers, not least I Shot The Sheriff. Who would've imagined a song about wrongful arrest for homicide being accompanied by such pelvic gyrations? The Wailers' back-up singer was a rubber-hipped snake charmer indeed. The spell was only occasionally broken when singer Dwayne Anglin buried his head in an over-sized mitt and grimaced as if nursing the world's most pulsating migraine. Having successfully appropriated Marley's dreads, stone-washed denim, vocal inflections and even the odd facial contortion, Anglin stayed true to the man's music he was covering while finding ways to unleash his own charisma. He was entrusted to faithfully tackle Redemption Song solo, a charge for which he was richly rewarded by the crowd who filled the high ceiling-ed room with their own voices. A distinct change of pace was felt with the ska staple and all 'round pogo-athon Simmer Down and finally, at the close, we were instructed to "lively up" ourselves, a command that hardly seemed necessary given how the dreadlocks were bouncing and falling under the house lights. In the end, the smiles said it all: everyone was feelin' irie alright.