with One Drop Redemption
On February 2nd, Saint Rocke had the pleasure of once again hosting One Drop Redemption, a tribute to the late Bob Marley. With a packed house and the lights dim, the show was opened by none other than Doug Macrae’s tribute to Sublime, “Santeria”. Lights flickered across the room as the audience sang along. A masterful guitar player, Macrae’s solo’s acted as an echo chamber for the crowd’s energy, snowballing into an ecstatic frenzy with the band’s hit song, Santeria. The whole crowd joined in it seemed, and we were far from over for the night.
After a brief intermission, One Drop Redemption hit the stage in style; Accompanied by not one, but two backup singers, two keyboards, bass, guitar, drums, and even a Djembe drummer acting as percussionist at times, it was nothing short of an impressive display of artistry. Calling out into the crowd the Saxophone player rallied the crowd as the band got into position.
The lights created a green wave on the ceiling, as if you were under the surface of a deep green ocean, and pink beams chased across the stage. The crowd never stopped moving the entire time, the whole world melted away outside of this room. A particular moment that stood out for me was during “I Shot the Sheriff”, the back up singers created a beautiful harmony of notes that stood alone in awe from the rest of the show. I had goose bumps up and down my arms.
As the night came to a close the Saxophonist once again called out into the crowd and spoke from the heart. “War is ugly, love is lovely” he said, as the crowd raised peace signs into the air. Unified as one, the band performed encore after encore with the crowd, and it seemed like the night would last forever.
