FRIDAY NIGHT VIDEO

One of the most powerful things I’ve ever seen is video footage of Bob Marley and the Wailers playing live before a newly liberated Zimbabwe. Here was an entire nation, overjoyed with being free and independent from British rule, laughing and dancing to the sweet rebel music of Marley and his band. Literally almost an entire nation skanking away just like the dread locked genius on stage. It was a very beautiful thing to see, and I have Roots Records, the Afro-Students Creative Collective, and the Nommo Society to thank for it. They are the parties responsible for bringing in one Roger Steffens, a man who, as Bob Marley’s official biographer, has acquired countless hours of rare and never-before-seen footage of Marley and friends. And for three hours on Friday, February 9, he showed it with commentary to a packed house at the Ohio Union East Ballroom of the Ohio State University. It’s hard to do justice to the massive value of the experience. I learned so much about Bob Marley. Things you can’t learn just from listening to the music or reading the CD liner notes. And the things I saw were amazing. Things like the Wailers’ first ever television performance (on a CBS Manhattan Transfer special!). The last rehearsal of Marley’s life. And the most humbling moment-- an early performance of “Redemption Song” on an old Jamaican television show. Seriously, it was something I walked out of both smarter and happier. Smarter knowing there was more to this man than his legend and his music, happier knowing there are still things that can unify us despite our diversities. If you missed this event, look for it next year. Steffens was pleased to announce he hopes to come back.