Mateel Community Center
Redway, California
W/ Norris Man
February 25, 2000 

A four hour trek through the majestic redwoods of Northern California landed us at the Mateel Community Center, in Redway. This excellent venue which has a capacity of over 900 people is affectionately dubbed "the house that reggae built" due to it’s having been constructed with proceeds from the annual Reggae on The River festival.

After a brief set by Angel, One Drop and the Star Trail Family, Norris Man burst onto the stage and captivated the sold out crowd with a 30 minute performance that included Everliving Soul, Heathen, Bright Days, Undiluted Love, Have Patience, Bad Road and the title track from his newest album "Persistence". Norris Man’s flashing locks, vibrant energy and positive and spiritual message showed that he is a force to be reckoned with in the years to come.

After a back stage intro of ‘Burning & Looting’, Anthony B took the stage at 10:30, staff in hand and dressed in a white turban and african robes. The bobo dread proceeded to entrance the audience with a tight 2-hour performance that started with ‘Storm Winds’ and proceeded into ‘One Thing’ , ‘Universal Struggle’ and ‘Raid The Barn’, which were very well received by the relatively young crowd. Anthony B then ripped into a set which included ‘Conscious Entertainer’, ‘Rolling Down The Street’, ‘Weed Fi Free’, ‘Watch What You Eat’, ‘Fire Pon Rome’, ‘Row Fisherman Row’, ‘Damage’ and ‘Swarm Me’.

Anthony B then took some time out to reason with the audience about the body’s Seven Seals which form the title of his newest album. "Your two eyes is your first and second seals. Be careful what you do with your eyes. Don’t become a spy, a peeper or an informer. Your two ears are your third and fourth seals. Be careful what you listen to. When you put in positive energy, you will receive positive impact. Your fifth and your sixth seals are your two nostrils. Remember, smoke marijuana. Don’t sniff no cocaine. And your seventh seal is your mouth. Be careful what you do with your mouth, and remember, let the words from your mouth and the meditations from your heart be acceptable in Jah sight."

Anthony B then moved into ‘Free’, ‘Waan Back’, ‘Cut Out That’, ‘Spifftail’, ‘You Move Me’, ‘Bun Down Sodom’, ‘Rumor’, ‘The Joy’, a tribute to Peter Tosh that included ‘Equal Rights’ and ‘Johnny B. Goode’, ‘Mr. Heartless’ and ‘Warrior’.

After leaving the stage, the energized masses bawled out for more, which the fiery Star Trail recording artist gladly obliged. His encore included ‘Can’t Buy We Out’, ‘Stronger’, ‘Heavy Load’, ‘Prophecy’, ‘When Mama Foresake You’, and ‘Chant A Prayer’. Anthony B set the Mateel ablaze with a killer version of ‘Fire’, followed by ‘Hurt Me Heart’. He concluded with a ska set that included ‘Marley Memories’, ‘Nah Vote Again’.

Anthony B’s spectacular performance was extremely well received by the giant crowd who let out a huge roar when it was announced that he will be appearing at Reggae on The River this summer. On this night, Anthony B proved to the masses that he is truly a "Conscious Entertainer". Big up to People Productions, The Mateel Community Center, George Golding and VP Records for their excellence and livication in helping bring JAH music to northern california.

Mateel Community Center
Redway, California
W/ Norris Man
February 25, 2000 

The show opened with the back up singers, Angel and Renee, giving the crowd wonderful rays of talent and soothing lovely voices. After their marvelous premier, Norris Man a young youth from yard sang conscious dancehall songs from his album "Persistence". As he was jumping across the stage, hyping the crowd, Norris gave praises to the most high and showered the people with positive energy. Following his outstanding performance he left the stage to make way for the gifted Anthony B. I could have walked away satisfied but man were we all in for more of a treat!

Anthony came on with so much power and strength; you could've probably felt his energy a mile away. Anthony returned for the encore and kept going for another hour. Which seemed to be more than two hours long, and everyone was far from tired. If that show went all night long no one would have left. Truly the best performance or should I say experience I've had in a long time!!!! Being a young musician it was extremely inspiring and motivating. It's great to see the youth doing righteous works for the most high. Let's make way for the upcoming talents. One love from Rastafari,

sistah Luna Angel

La Onde
St. Louis, Missouri
W/ Norris Man
February 15, 2000 

Concert took place at La Onde, doors at 7, show at 9 (Reggae Time). Nice spin til 10:30 or so, then a local group got on stage and did their
thing for a bit. But I was there for the headliners...and it was gettin
late. Hey promoter, it was a Tuesday night... The Star Trail Crew (is that what they're called?) then took the stage and put down some nice vibes. At 11 p.m. sharp Norris Man came out and kicked it for a good 40 minutes. He has got some serious energy! Early on did a tune over the "Family Man" riddem which was hot. He was jumpin up and down real high. It was eye-catching. Really played some nice tunes. Did "The Enemy," a song I think was called "Better Days Are Ahead," and "Persistance," the title track of his CD on VP, which I picked up after the show. Nice vibe and nuff respect to Norris Man...
11:45, Anthony B took the stage and started off with Marley's "Burnin
And Lootin." Killer! Then into "Storm Winds" which was hotter. AB has some great stage presence. Moving all over the place... Then went into "One Thing," "Universal Struggle," Raid The Barn," and "Conscious Entertainer." He was on the mic, too, asking for reverance and just saying positive things.  Then there was a small fight at the front which he said to stop, then went into "Fire Pon Rome" (then a 30 second segue into "Row Mr. Fisherman"). Then he called it the "Meditation Part" of  the show...and went into "Damage Already Done" (is that the correct title?), "Free, " Waan Back," and more. I had written down these song titles to this point - hey, I'm catching up with Sista Irie! (-:   - but then I went way up front and blew it off. He played a couple of "exclusives" he said, not yet recorded, and they were cool. For the women he sang "You Move Me." "Bun Down Soddom" was wicked, then a great version of "Mr. Heartless" which blew me away. At the end he did "Cold Feet," a GREAT version of Tosh's "Equal Rights," "Heavy Load" and then a few verses of  "Me Dem Ah Ban." He closed it down with a couple more...Went til1:15 or so, so played 1 1/2 hours at a pretty remarkable pace, but hey, he's 23 years old... I've read before where people talk of his "hand swaying" and I agree that he did it too much (asking the audience to sway their hand). Just my opinion and no big deal. He also played his songs WAY too short, maybe to get more in, but I wish he would've at least played the songs to the length they were on record (best example is the above-mentioned "Me Dem Ah Ban").. But still an extremely enjoyable evening of positive vibes...
Afterwards I got to spend some time with him and he's very soft-spoken
and conscious. Richard Bell from Star Trail was also there and he was
real cool. They were heading to KC then to Colorodo and beyond. How they keep up the pace, I don't know... When I was leaving it was cool to see the living legend Barnabus talking with the up-and- coming legend Anthony B. He was telling him to take the foundation that Barnabus and others laid and to run with it...it was cool to see the different generations reasoning...

Professor Skank
#994

Roxy Theatre
New York, N.Y.
W/ Lee Perry & Norris Man
February 9, 2000 

Yes I, last night's exhilirating performance by Bobo bredren Anthony
B at New York's ROXY was an experience I will remember Iternally!
Thankfully, the crowd was slow to build which gave my sistren Natasha
and I the opportunity to get right up close  front and center. Being
this close to the Fire and inspiration was indeed uplifting, to say the
least.  Anthony b was preceded by Norrisman who gave a solid and rousing performance, and followed by Lee "Scratch" Perry who put on an equally thundering show.   However, Anthony B was the Bredren I came to see and hear, and as was expected he ruled the place from the get go.  Treating the charged crowd to favorites off of his three last albums, as well as some less known tunes, Anthony B delivered positive message with the power and grace of a lion.  his performance, over an hour long, included wicked tunes such as; Storm Winds, You Move Me, Splifftail, Universal Struggle, Swarm Me, Hurt The Heart, Damage, When Mama Forsake Yu, Marley Memories, Mr. Heartless, Allow Di Herb, Cut Out That, Prophecy Ah Reveal, Waan Back, Free, Raid De Barn Watch What Yu Eat, Row Mr. Fisherman, and of course, Fire Pon Rome.  And Burn More Fire he did, with a rendition of Peter Tosh's , Equal rights after burning fire pon Hitler and all other people who want to destroy humanity and create isms and schisms.  Interspersed with his lyrics pleading for Unity, Equality and Justice in this world, Anthony b delivered meditations on politricks, the evils of Babylon, the seven seals, the Nazarite vows and much more.  His message struck a perfect balance between between blazing Fire and spreading Love.  Each time I see Anthony B live, I gain more respect for the man and his message.  His words, sound and power seek to uplift those who need it, remind humanity of our common roots no matter what color the skin, and provide a foundation for a more positive world.  so, i must give massive respect to Anthony b and the Startrail Posse for an experience that will forever be difficult to match!
                    -Ras Michael Rubes

Roxy Theatre
Boston, Mass.
W/ Culture & Norris Man
February 6, 2000 

Another wicked one from the House of Blues "Reggae Greats" series.

Culture took the stage first and mashed it up with a mix of classic and new tunes. See Dem A Come and International Herb were the highlights for me, along with Joseph Hill's between song musings. Nice to see a venerable "roots" act paired with a "dancehall" star, pretty uncommon in my experience outside of festivals or big stage shows.

After a brief set change and an opening number or 3 from Star Trail Band and female singers, up and comer Norrisman took the stage for a high energy 20 minute performance, hi stepping and locks flying throughout much of his set. He opened with Everliving Soul and then Heathen Pt. 1, followed by a tune he played last time he was in Boston 9/99 (Heathen Way??). Bright Days was next then his boom shot Bad Road. Persistence closed out his tight set, which was well recieved by the crowd. He dropped a plug for his VP cd, and I bet he may have sold a few in the club last night based on this solid performance. He thanked Anthony B and Star Trail for bringing him on tour.

Anthony B took the stage in a grey turban and robe, with a short rod in his hand. The crowd was with him from the first,and he played a set mixing big hits, some older-less played tunes, and some tunes from his latest cd Seven Seals. Opened with Burning and Looting into Storm Winds, 1 Thing, Universal Struggle and Raid The Barn. After a brief rap about seven seals, he went into a tune off that cd called Conscious Entertainer, then the wicked Watch What Yuh Eat. Fire Pon Rome, Swarm Mi, Damage, new tune Free, Waan Back, Cut Out That, SpliffTail, You Move Me, and the classic Prophecy Reveal.
That's all I had time to listen back to so far, but I recall Hurt the Heart and Johnny B Good were among the remaining bunch of tunes played.

Excellent show all around, and 1000 times better in every aspect than the rediculously short and poorly engineered show AB and Norrisman did behind "Seven Seals" at Boston's 3Cs in 9/99, $25 for less than 1 hour of music between both artists. Fyah bun rip off shows at 3Cs! ;- )

Respect,

Paul

Retcher Theater
Towson, Maryland
W/ Culture & Norris Man
February 4, 2000 

I made it a point to check out the star-trail posse as they leave their
trail on reggae fans' minds during their USA tour in support of Anthony
B's Seven Seals CD. The show was well attended, making it a little
difficult for me to wade my way to the front of the stage my favourite
place during any reggae show. Jah Works' crew was hard at work
entertaining the early arrivals, and the response to their music was very
enthusiastic. An hour after my arrival Jah Works sealed their set and
gathered their equipment to make way for the Star-Trail crew to set up
their own. In twenty-five minutes the set change was complete and
star-trail introduced.

This is a group of talented youngsters. The bass guitarist was introduced
as "One Drop" and he did a cover of Freddy McGregor's Big Ship, he
sounded good. The two back-up singers also had their turns each doing a song. Norris Man was then announced and he came on stage with a burst of energy. His set was good, but as a man new on the scene, he seemed a little timid, spending much of his time on stage near one corner
entertaining a few fans who wanted to keep holding hands with him. He was brought back for an encore, and he gave one more song, before Anthony B was announced.

The mic was handed to the Bobo Dread out of the audience's sight and he started with a few lines from Bob Marley and the Wailers' Burnin' and
lootin', which was quickly changed as soon as he hit the stage. He sang
"One thing I can say .... One thing I can do ..." and threw his legs high
shabba ranks' style, changing that into "toyi toyi" a prominent protest
dance in South Africa, all the while singing and the back-up singers
softly making things sweeter. He sang for the working class, as always,
singing, "Universal Struggle" and "Raid The Barn" and urging all the
independent workers to wave their hands. He sang a few tunes from his
Seven Seals Album, and identified the Seven Seals as the eyes (2) the
mouth (3) the ears (5) and the nose (7). He went on to say a few things
about H.I.M's visit to Jamaica, saying people always ask him; how could it be that the almighty visited Jamaica in a plane? His response is simply,
"Jesus rode into I-rusalem on a Donkey." He punctuated his tunes with a
"kick it star-trail" phrase. The last tune from Seven Seals was "Mr
Heartless" which he said is creating waves in Jamaica, and said it is
aimed at all the Governments of the world who are not doing much to help the sufferers. The show peaked when he sang "The Damage" and then went on to set Fire On Rome. He asked the people to sing along, but was not pleased with the response. He went on to say that while on tour in Rome where 10 000 people where in attendance with only about five black people in the audience, he got a much much better response and urged the people to do better; the audience responded well.

All the while the Bobo Dread never stopped dancing. He teased the audience with a line from Beres Hammond's "One Dance" before singing "Them a dance too funky ..." The conscious entertainer is versatile for sure. He uniquely covered Peter Tosh's "Equal Rights" and made mention of the fact that Peter Tosh is/was his inspirer. He sealed his show with a Bob Marley medley sung over the ska rhythms of "Simmer Down."

I seemingly have told you enough to make you either want to go to this
show when it hits your town or decide it's not for you, but remember that my eyes and ears might have missed plenty that would be of interest to you if you were to go see these guys on stage. Also no one show is an exact replica of another.

Jabulani

Celebrate Brooklyn
Prospect Park
Brooklyn, N.Y
June 26, 1999 

Anthony B joins the "Celebrate Brooklyn" movement

Brooklyn’s Prospect Park band shell was blessed on Saturday, June 26, 1999 with an electrifying performance by one of Jamaica’s most prolific yet controversial conscious reggae singers - Anthony B.

The show opened with a performance by John Brown’s Body an American Band that represents the Roots*Rock*Reggae vibe.

Anthony B started his set at approximately 3:45 PM with Storm Wind his 1998 summer hit. Moving right into One Thing, from his debut album So Many Things….., he followed with Universal Struggle where he urged all working class to join him in singing "raid the barn" for all the "parasites" that don’t fend for themselves.

As the lyrics of the song states  "I feel pleased/ when I take a little ease/ from a long hard days of work/ a sense of achieving/ to know I’m contributing/ doing my part". He was also pleased with the responsive sing along he received from the audience - he commented " bwoy look like mi should bring you to the next studio session".

On a "musical fire" he delved into about 20 other tracks from his extensive catalog. Through it all he paid tribute to the Late Greats, Bob Marley and Peter Tosh; the latter whom he credits as his inspiration.

By: April Chen

Victoire 2
Montpellier, France
May 13, 1999 

Wotcha!!! Last night was Anthony B night in Montpellier. I went with our neighbour Guy and it was great. Yesterday was also the first day of the year reaching 30 degrees which made the day even better.

It was at the Victoire 2 venue and despite no advertising in local papers, just posters in town, the venue was quite filled up. The first part was some local guys DJing on most of the current riddims. I was pleased to see some of the local youths taking this on. One of them sounded very much like Capleton and another like Buju Banton. They kept going on about the event: Anthony B in Montpellier and eventually the event came. It was quite a relief, not that they were bad but it was a relief to hear a band instead of very loud records.

It was great. The support band was really good and they started with a song I don't know. Then each of the two woman backing vocal did a classic, starting with Dennis Brown's "Should I" and then Bob Marley's Is this love. Then came Anthony B, jumping and dancing about the stage and starting with So Many things. Really good gig. I haven't seen one that good for a long long time. I dunno if his gigs are always that great, since it was the first time I saw him live. Most of the songs came from the two LPs So Many Things and Universal Struggle. He did these 2 tracks and Fire Pon Rome, Raid The Barn, Gangstas Think Twice, Storm Winds, Waan Back, to name a few (I don't remember them all). They also did Musical Fire and the great Shining Light from the 2 Strong record, as well as Chant, from the Yellowman Freedom of Speech record. There was also some Peter Tosh tracks, Equal Rights and Johnny B. Good. The latter was especially very good. In all, there was only 2-3 tracks that I didn't recognize. I think so there was little material from his new record expected in the next few months. At the encore they did Cold Feet, which finished spendidly the evening. His gig lasted about 2 hours, maybe more, as we left the venue around 1am after being offered a beer by the bar staff, which is the first time ever this happens to me at a gig (amazing, maybe my mate was chatting up the waitresses while I was watching the gig). 

- Eric Genevier

House of Blues
Cambridge Massachusetts
November 10, 1998

Anthony B (backed by Star Trail band of course) came to the House of Blues in Harvard Square Cambridge Mass. on Tuesday and totally mashed up this small club. He took the stage in a bright red turban and robe with his rod in hand, let out a trademark drawn out "Jaaaah", and proceeded to play the wickedest set I've ever seen him do in the US or JA.  Maybe the keeper of the AB webpage will correct the names of the songs I don't know titles for.  Here is the list in the order played: So Much Things To Say, One Thing, Musical Fire ?, Universal Struggle, Raid The Barn, Watch What You Eat - band intros, solos- Fire Pon Rome, Swarm Mi, Damage, his Peter Tosh tribute songs Equal Rights & Justice and Johnny B Goode, Waan Back, Cut Out That, Splifftail, then a new track about a recent 3 day  lockdown in parts of Kingston JA "Lock the City"?, Chant A Prayer,Jerusalem, Black Man Rise, Bun Down Sodom, Hurt The Heart, Marley Memories, Cold Feet (with the 1st verse of Redemption Song in the middle), and Rumors ended the show near 1 am or so.  Wicked performance backed by the tight Star Trail Band.  The show was so good I couldn't even complain that he failed to play a track I was hoping for, his new ganja Rolling Down The Street (smoking indo sippin on bobo roots).

Big up the Cambridge House of Blues for bringing some young culture djs in with reggae greats like Spear, Gregory, and the like. I hope they keep it up.

Respect, pb

Tramps
New York, New York
November 14, 1998

Last night the crowd at Tramps got more than their moneys worth from Anthony B.& Co...The show started behind schedule with Jr.Jazz taking the stage around 10:30...The crowd seemed to enjoy him, as they sang along to songs from his VP release"My Turn"...

At 11:30 or so, Half Pint took the stage, sporting a shiny white suit and dark sunglasses and kicked things off with the popular "Greetings", which got the crowd moving...He then went through a nice set of some old favorites, up to new material off of his recent release "Legal we Legal"...The crowd shouted out their requests such as "Winsome", "Level the Vibes" etc...and H.Pint responded with "Coming right at ya" and went into the songs..

About 12:30, the crowd went nuts, people waving the flag of Ethiopia as Anthony B took the stage, wearing his red, turban style hat, a red shirt jacket covering a "Universal Struggle" t-shirt, holding his signature staff...and shouted "Jah!!"  He blazed through many tracks from both of his albums, including paying tribute to Peter Tosh with covers of "Equal Rights"& "Johnny B. Goode"...He did at least 2 encores, maybe 3... What made him so good last night was how he talked to the crowd in between songs... He explained how people take the whole fire buhning thing out of context, his concert in Rome, having faith in yourself, etc... he was educational, inspirational,and entertaining... This was by far the best show that I've seen in a long time... If you ever get the chance to see Anthony B live,do not hesitate...

Also big up to the Star Trail band that sounded tight throughout the entire night...
Hope you enjoyed the review..
-Rob