His long dreads, tied back in a Jamaican colored elastic, whipped around with each jump and shake of his hips. His voice was as fluid as his movements were. The air was filled with contagious Caribbean-flavored funk and reggae music.
Kicking off the WVOF spring and summer concert series with Joe Kelley, Mystic Bowie and the Pallbearers played the Campus Center to a disappointing attendance this past Tuesday. With only about ten students on the ground floor, and another ten watching intermittently from the over hang, the band did not seem discouraged and played with a love for their music.
A native Jamaican, Mystic Bowie has been touring and producing music with the Tom Tom Club, which features Talking Head’s and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame members Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz. Mystic Bowie will also be on tour with the B52s in July in Central Park.
Mystic Bowie and the Pallbearers consists of Renard Boissiere on keys, Kurt Berglund on drums, Pat Lavery on bass (who bore a striking resemblance to Dr. Kurt Nasser) and Paul Mercurio on guitars. Lavery and Mercurio joined Mystic Bowie with backing vocals for many of their songs, and provided a nice harmony.
Appearance-wise, the band did not appear as if they would gel into a cohesive band, as Mercurio looked like he should be in a Pearl Jam cover-band, and Boissiere in a Gospel choir. Regardless of physical appearance, the musicians came together to make unified music.
“I wasn’t really sure what kind of sound they’d have since the band members looked so different from one another,” said senior Justin Colby, one of the few in the audience. “But driving home, I was wishing I had the CD in my car.”
While the songs on the band’s CD, entitled Rebirth do sound strikingly alike and indistinguishable, as a live act the band’s sound varied slightly more, although keeping a main reggae and funk background. The performance was smooth, possessing the consistency of CD quality, but with added energy of a live performance.
The performance of “Lend a Hand” was one of the best highlights from the set. Mystic Bowie taught the audience that the song inspires you to “not forget where you come from.” He said that even if your background was a happy and successful one, don’t forget to spread that to other people who need it.
The song was the most energetic of the set, with Boissiere starting it off with the percussion of a whistle along with his keyboard skills. Mystic Bowie in turn compliments this with the rhythm of his cowbell. Wait, two cowbells. No, three! A chain reaction was set off, and Boissiere, Mystic, and Lavery all played the bells at trickling moments.
The ending of the set definitely gathered momentum and passion, as it culminated with a jam on the last song. With the instruments peaking, Mystic Bowie extended his vocals with fervor and feeling, ending the set perfectly.
Kelley, the organizer of the concerts and D.J. of the “Upper Room” on Mondays from 4-8 p.m., said that while it is “tough to get people out” partially due to a “lack of publicity and a little bit of apathy,” many people listen to the show and concert in Canada and throughout the world via the Web.
The concert series is formulated in celebration of Kelley’s 20 years on the radio, ten of which have been with Fairfield University. Other musicians lined up for the series include Jill Jones, who has worked with Prince, and all concerts will be aired on his show.
“It was unfortunate there was such a small amount of attendance when I first got there, especially once I heard how good they were, but it didn’t seem to phase them that there weren’t that many people there, and that drew more people as the show went on,” said Colby.
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