The Wailers... only not

At Shepherds Bush Empire last night, we were treated to the Wailers play Exodus. I'm as baffled as I'm sure everyone else is by what constitutes a Wailer these days.

We left after 20mins, unable to stomach the X-Factor-like quality of the show.

You cannot and should not attempt to play Marley's music without a conscious adoption of, and an overt empathy with his message, or some of his message. These are not pop songs.

By contrast we saw the Marley brothers - Damien, Stephen and Ziggy perform Exodus at Glasto 07 and it was my personal highlight. They are a family, they pass on the message as one reggae family. Totally different.

see rather http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2pEEAtwoTI
Oh, but I did see, somehow for the first time, how obvious the west african roots of the music are. Flatten out the heavy accent on the beat and speed it up a little and it's simple, tribal african music. Made me wonder whether Jamaicans nowadays listen to and appreciate modern west african artists, and if so - who in particular and what they hear in it.