Disclaimer: This article included free tickets to Jah Wobble Concert.
“Expect the unexpected” is what I was told by John “Jah” Wobble when asking him about this upcoming tour. I won’t lie, when my friend and I walked into the Newport Riverfront Theatre (a couple of drinks in), we were slightly tipsy and amused by the fact that we were the youngest by a long shot at this concert. However, watching this band of mismatched virtuosos, the unexpected is the perfect way you could describe this gig and the whole tour.
The band started in a perfect trancey fashion, with an almost ten-minute jazz fusion display, which, as a lover of jazz, I may be biased, but I loved. John’s licks on the bass were as groovy as ever, and keyboardist George King showcased a sound and playing style reminiscent of that of Ray Manzarek from The Doors. Not to mention, John’s impressive, consistent movement of bass to mini drumkit with cowbells.
After the improvised opening, John revealed humorously to late comers that they “didn’t miss much” and that Jazz fusion was what they were meant to do in the soundcheck that he missed it as he was, in true London humour, “havin’ a kip”.
Sidenote: if John ever has had enough of music, he could easily be a Chas and Dave-esque comedian.
Soon enough, the moment I had been waiting for came, and a cover of PiL’s debut single, ‘Public Image’, came into place after a smooth transition into the song, however, not in the same style as usual. John and the band truly make it their own, while John does sing it like himself, there are some familiar sneers and inflections of a young John Lydon. I don’t know if that was intentional, but regardless, I really enjoyed it.
The overall sound of Public Image is a downbeat dub vibe rather than that harsh post punk sound. I was disillusioned at first by this, but I had to remind myself this isn’t a PiL gig, this was Jah Wobble doing what he does best, in his own right and making his old band’s music his own.
The band then plunged into the 1991 hit Visions of You, the late great Sinead O’Connor’s backing vocals and riffs filled the concert hall and John sang the song with the same touching tone and enthusiasm as when the song was first released.
Rolling onto some more jazz fusion improv again, this time, however, with a more Miles Davis sound coming through. They transitioned this perfectly into another cover of Dub reggae, bluebeat, and rocksteady classic “Liquidator”. This was a shock to me, and in my friend’s recording, you can hear me shout, probably too loudly, “Oh My God it’s Liquidator, they’re doing Liquidator!”. There was even some crowd participation; hands were clapping along to a dead groovy keyboard solo.
After a long, but really excellent, reggae interlude, the band seamlessly moved into a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘The Chain’, which was made clear to me by the famous bassline that leads into one of the greatest jams ever.
After this cover, John exclaimed that guitarist Martin Chung “Can shred with the best of them”. I approve this message.
Chung used a great deal of experimental sounds through the use of many pedals.
To which my friend commented, “gave a Tom Morello in Rage Against the Machine vibe.”
In typical Jah Wobble fashion, a reading of Shakespeare’s Richard III was performed as teasers of the eerie and incredible song Poptones were slowly revealed to us. A song on the PiL album Metal Box in which John told me, “If we’d had a manager, it would have never happened”.
Overall, this concert was unstructured, raw, and beautiful. John shouted out songs to the band as he felt them, and we in the audience felt as if on the edge of our seats, as I’m sure the band did. This concert and this band are like nothing I’ve ever seen live before. I truly mean that, the intimate nature of the concert and John’s comedy routine throughout the concert made sure there was no division between audience and artist. Each part of the band were incredible musicians in their own right with immense talent, which are real words I said to them after hanging around the stage door for an hour like a sad groupie.
All in all, in a world becoming faker and uncertain by the minute, in that concert hall, for an hour and a half on a Thursday night, we all experienced something truly raw and special.
Words By Mia Samson
Photo by Tina Korhonen, all rights reserved, courtesy of Ian Cheeky
