The Echoplex-Los Angeles
Live Review: 07/15/09

After years of frequenting the Dub Club in Echo Park, I was especially looking forward to the screening of Return of the Rub-A-Dub Style, a documentary chronicling the birth of the Dub and the reggae pioneers that partook in its inception. And much to my anticipation, the event was a success. There is something to be said about watching a film in a club, with a beer in tow, getting ready for the evening to begin. Drawing an eclectic crowd, audience members sat before several screens projected on stage and the interior of the club, while laughing alongside each other. Retaining the essence of reggae and Rasta culture, a ‘positive’ energy floated throughout the room. Folks seemed genuinely entertained by the mere candor of the artists featured in the film. The crowd’s enthusiasm was evidenced through an occasional chuckle or chiming of a salud that could be heard between moments of silence. Closing off the film, patrons began to stroll in, ready to participate in a night of jovial activity.

As expected, Dub’s rotating selectors jumped on the decks, spinning the classic roots and dancehall tracks we know and love so well. Club-goers settled in, either dancing or mingling in the out-door patio, getting ready for the live performances to commence. In honor of the film, underground reggae sensations Tippa Lee and Trinity were scheduled to show. About mid-way into the night, Trinity bounced on stage, opening the set. Trinity, dressed in dapper attire-a polka-dot button down, an applicayed vest, a fedora, shades and all, began to hype up the crowd by jittering in convulsion-like movements. Backed by the Echodelic Soundsystem, his gruff vocals swept over original riddims by Black Uhuru’s “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” and Bob Marley and The Wailers’ “Soul Almighty.” At one point, a rather tall Rastaman with dreads that appeared to have been a good twenty-years in the making, plopped up on stage. Having been a friend or fellow musician of his, Trinity began to playfully joke around with his locks. Needless to say, Trinity is a charismatic character-not even the deliberate slow-pacing, dub sequences could simmer him down. He had the crowd chanting along to “hay oh, hay oh’s” that were at times, irrelevant, but hey, it kept them entertained.  Following Trinity, Tippa Lee took the stage. Whilst Trinity gave an enjoyable performance, Tippa Lee elevated the mood with his singjay, improvisations that melded perfectly alongside riff- filled horns and flaring whistles. Covering songs like “Bam Bam” and “Legalize It,” both Tippa and the audience skanked to an Augustus Pablo tempo.  And after the concert, the party continued; in every corner people could be seen swerving their hips to the sounds of rocksteady reggae or flowing along to the heavy baselines of dub.

As I was leaving the venue, I thought to myself, “It was an enjoyable night at the Dub- there were no hecklers, haters or pretentious posers. The usual suspects were there to pay their respects to the organizers and originators who make this weekly possible (even ol’ man Joe was there- if you frequent the Dub, you know who I am referencing).”  Replete with performances and home-style roots and dub reggae, the Dub Club selectors made another Wednesday night memorable with just the right fixings- good music and good people.

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http://www.myspace.com/dubclubla