Jammin' with the Wailers at the Alys Stephens Center

A friend, who I see infrequently, called to see if I wanted to go to the Wailers concert. I said, "Of course." I didn't know what to expect. I love the Alys Stephens Center and its series of international music and performing arts. When we got there, the instrumentalists warmed up the crowd. I was trying to think if I had ever attended a Reggae concert. A raspy soulful voice joined the set. It was the lead singer. As soon as he was center stage, I began to think that I was going to have to move to the back of the room. There was no way that I could sit and listen to the Wailers. I was going to have to find a place to dance.

No sooner than the thought came to mind a young man came from no where and started dancing in the empty seats two rows ahead of us. The people behind him asked him to sit down. Well shortly after, the lead singer said, "Come dance with me." The young man and several of his friends ran to the front of the stage. They were joined by several others. I started having flash backs of Rugby Road Extended and one of the few fraternity parties I attended at UVA. However, the Alys Stephens Center has much better acoustics.

I saw my friend Efe, who teaches African dance. She joined the crowd. I ran to hug her. She said, "I knew this could not be a sit down affair." Some people either left the concert or moved to another seat. There was one couple that seemed irritated the whole night. How can you be at a Wailers concert and not even move a pinky? Is it physically possible? Had it been in my younger years, I would have started chanting, "No parking on the dance floor" or "If you didn't come to party than you should go home!" Even prominent university officials were jammin'.

The lead singer was electrifying. I have only seen one other performer who seemed as if the music was coming from the depths of his soul. I thought, "Is this guy channeling Marley?" The music started at his feet, his core and then came oozing out of his mouth.

He jumped around the stage all night wearing a wind breaker with the hood covering a knit cap. I was wondering how many calories he burns with each performance. I also thought at any moment he was going to jump into the crowd. The group performed for two hours with maybe a five minute break. It was amazing. The entire Center was alive.

What was your favorite concert experience?