As much as Ziggy Marley sings about love, when the eldest of Bob Marley’s children is performing onstage, he looks the part of a prize fighter.
Before several songs during his Saturday night set at The Bellwether in downtown Los Angeles, Ziggy ducked into the corner of the stage, hopping around and occasionally putting up his dukes. It was as if he was warming up for battle with the lyrics and riffs ahead of him.
To be sure, the 55-year-old has no need to fight for himself at this point. Between his 16 albums (eight solo, after eight with Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers), eight Grammy Awards, seven children, and one Daytime Emmy Award, Ziggy has secured his own distinct legacy, and then some.
But that fighting spirit, that same energy and aura that marks the many scions of the Marley family, not only remains with Ziggy, but flows in droves when he’s in the spotlight. That was certainly the case as he belted out a bevy of tracks from his own catalog, along with a crowd-pleasing sprinkling of his dad’s classics, all of which featured a voice that sounded like a carbon copy of the most consequential reggae artist in history.
After an opening DJ set by Ziggy’s daughter Zuri, the man himself emerged, knee-length dreads and all, as words from John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., and the most famous Marley spilled out from the speakers. Ziggy came out swinging, his Gibson under his arm, with a message of self-reflection and improvement on “Personal Revolution”.
It wasn’t long before Ziggy brought broader global politics—a staple of the Marley family oeuvre—into the picture. With “Shalom Salaam”, off 2003’s Dragonfly, he nodded to the current conflict between Israel and its neighbors by invoking the long, tragic history of back-and-forth bloodshed on the western end of the Middle East. It’s a story that’s particularly salient for Ziggy, whose great grandmother was Jewish and whose wife, of Persian Jewish ancestry, is from Israel.
He didn’t any pull punches with his political critique on “See Dem Fake Leaders”. From there, he implored the audience to unite against the powers that be during “Top Rankin”. That message narrowed down to the individual fight for rights and against oppression with “Be Free”, before widening back out to the collective struggle on “Rebellion Rises”.
At that point, Ziggy dropped in his first homage to his father’s catalog with “Positive Vibrations”. It was not only a brief reprieve from the intensely political musings of its predecessors, but also a fitting choice, given Ziggy’s shirt read “Rastaman Vibration” on the pocket.
After working in some purely island vibes courtesy of “Beach in Hawaii”, Ziggy redirected the sonic conversation back to matters of broader substance by railing against “a paper town with paper politicians” on “We Are The People”.
From there came a main set-ending stretch that revolved largely around the theme of love and good times. That portion began, as it rightfully should, with Bob’s “One Love” and included a rendition of “Is This Love” that got the room rocking. In between those two of his dad’s reggae standards, Ziggy pulled “World Revolution” and “Love is My Religion” from his own repertoire. All of those songs transitioned beautifully into “Look Who’s Dancing”, from Ziggy’s work with the Melody Makers.
Upon returning to the stage for the encore, Ziggy and company dipped back into the Melody Makers’ catalog with “Justice”. He then retreated to his corner for another personal pugilistic pump-up en route to a cover of The Wailers’ “Get Up, Stand Up”.
Rather than keep things combative, Ziggy sent the crowd off into the night with an entirely positive message on “Circle of Peace”, for which this tour was named.
As for the remainder of the tour, Ziggy and his band will play three dates across Arizona—two with Lettuce—followed by shows in New Mexico and Colorado, before taking time off the road in August.
Come September, Ziggy will be back to performing in a momentous way. He is set to join four of his Marley brothers—Stephen, Damian, Julian, and Ky-Mani—on a month-long, 22-date tour across North America dubbed The Marley Brothers Legacy Tour. For a full list of upcoming tour dates and to purchase tickets, visit his website.
Ziggy Marley – “Shalom Salaam” – 7/20/24
[Video: NUNYUH]
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