The Wailers brought their Jamaican flavor to Niagara Falls, NY, as they helped bring in 2012. The one remaining member of the legendary Bob Marley and The Wailers band is Aston “Familyman” Barrett. He’s the bass player in the band that sold an estimated 200 million records worldwide. Accompanying Familyman were two keyboard players, two lead vocalists, two backup singers, one guitarist and one drummer. The man who took the helm was Koolant. His vibe transcended through the entire night’s performance and would have even made the late great Bob Marley proud. The weather was a balmy 38 degrees at the time the show kicked off. The band from Jamaica braved the elements throughout the concert. The music flowed consistently as many Bob Marley and The Wailers hits were covered, minus Marley’s posthumously released “Buffalo Soldier.” The band kept the groove going as each member worked hard and delivered a great show. It seems the people who were in attendance felt that this was the closest they would get to an original Bob Marley and The Wailers performance. It was one of the happier crowds I’ve been around in a long time. The Wailers did their job as the people went home bringing in 2012 with smiles on their faces! There were a couple of small glitches in the evening’s performance at no fault of the band. If you were close to the stage, you could not see the drop of the guitar to signify the start of the new year. Also, the countdown timing was late and no one really noticed the stroke of midnight as fireworks went off and the guitar dropped in the background. Hopefully, these glitches will be taken care of for the next New Year’s Eve show.
Set List:
Intro – Scandal
Natural Mystic
Stir It Up
Soul Rebel
Hypocrites
I Shot the Sheriff
Get up, Stand Up
No Woman No Cry
One Love
Countdown to New Year
Encore:
Three Little Birds
Could You Be Loved?
Waiting in Vain/What’s love Got to Do With It (Tina Turner medley) Exodus
We would like to thank Versa Manos of Gorgeous PR and Dave Taylor of Empire State Concerts for the credentials for allowing BackstageAxess.com to review the show.
