WERS 88.9 fm - Performance Wrap-Up: John Brown's Body

February 8^th, 2009

A tie-dye wearing, dread locked, beanie clad crowd consisting of mostly college and high school students packed themselves shoulder-to-shoulder at the House of Blues to get down to the grooves of Mighty Mystic, Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad, and John Brown's Body.

The show began slightly after 8pm when Mighty Mystic took the appropriately green, red, and yellow lit stage. The band kicked things off at a medium speed but then progressed to a danceable tune that had the entire crowd rocking back and forth along with the beats from "Slipped Away." Aside from the singer's obvious connection with the crowd, the most prominent aspect of Mighty Mystic's set was their drummer, Brent Sirois. With his eyed closed almost the entire time, Sirois passionately whaled on the drums, congo, chimes, shaker, and cowbell all with ease.

Following Mighty Mystic, Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad took the stage. With a sound as whopping as their name, Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad's simple beats coupled with their casual yet commanding stage presence made for a stellar performance. Fusing elements of experimental dub step, ska, and funk into their essentially reggae sound, GPGDS energized the crowd as they effortlessly rocked on.

Roughly twenty minutes after Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad, John Brown's Body took the stage to face an increasingly anxious and rowdy crowd. Then, with a smooth blow of the horns from the three casually dressed wind instrumentalists on the side of the stage, the jamming commenced.

For a local band that comes from Massachusetts, John Brown's Body creates a sound as well as an atmosphere that is especially evocative of authentic Jamaican reggae.

Lead singer Elliot Martin, with his knee-length dreadlocks flying madly about, led the audience in a call and response as he playfully jumped around and swayed side-to-side, hands raised, in unison with the crowd. Such songs as "33 RPM" and "Ambrosia" allowed John Brown's Body to showcase their individual musical talents. During the first of their two encores, Drew Sayers wowed the crowd with an incendiary saxophone solo.

However, the thing that stood out the most about John Brown's Body was, undoubtedly, the tremendous gratitude they held for being so fortunate to be doing what they love for the past fifteen years.

-Words by Ziggy Steiner

-Images by Fernanda Gomez