Hillside Inside
Sleeman Centre
Guelph, Ontario
February 7, 2009
Hillside Inside
Sleeman Centre
Guelph, Ontario
February 7, 2009
Review: Mat Taylor
Photos: Mike Forbes
Much
has been made of the Kingston Ont. trio in recent years; bringing rock stained
reggae to the forefront of mainstream radio is no easy feat. Touring on the
heels of their latest LP, Street Gospels, they brought their jams to Guelph
Ontario’s second annual Hillside Inside Festival.
Production of the new record, like their major label debut, was handled by Bad
Brains’ Darryl Jenifer. The heavily dreadlocked prince of rock-reggae took some
chances with this record, including electronics, fades and echoes. But, while
ska and dub are ever-present, the styles serve as merely a base for their rock-skank
melodies.
Singer Jay Malinowski had warmed up earlier in the day with a solo set that
allowed him to work through some softer acoustic material, including a soulful
rendition of their first single ever, Santa Monica. Thus, when Bedouin hit the
main stage in its full form, minus original drummer Pat Pengelly, they were
ready to rock. And rock they did.
The set opened with a small horn section that consisted of a trumpet and sax,
playing some loud island-y licks. Then Malinowski and bassist Eon Sinclair took
to their mics. They burned through the new single "Until We Burn in the Sun" (the
kids just want a love song) right off the bat. Sinclair’s heavy plucking sounded
perfect as the set rolled on; the crowd hanging onto (and singing) every word.
The set featured a lot of the uppity tracks from Street Gospels, notably the
sunny St. Andrew’s, which seemed a crowd favorite. The real highlights however,
seemed to come from their smash 2004 record, Sounding a Mosaic. The radio hits
from this record drew huge reactions from the crowds and Malinowski, dressed
like a hybrid of Tim Armstrong and Joe Strummer, fed off of the energy as he
bounced around the stage hammering his guitar and maintaining his soulful croon.
When the Night Feels my Song, in all its ubiquity, appears to still be fun to
play, as smiles rarely left the bands faces during this, and most of their other
numbers. Like I said, the crowd energy was most certainly fuelling the fire.
This set was later on in the day and many a Sleeman Draught had been consumed by
yours truly, so the intimate set details escape me – but I do remember for a
short while feeling like I was somewhere sunny and warm listening to the future
of fan friendly reggae.
Bedouin Soundclash Official Web Site
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