VISIONARY, ECCENTRIC, legend - Lee 'Scratch' Perry, the man who produced the early music of Bob Marley and The Wailers, and an enormously influential and significant figure in reggae music in his own right, is coming to Galway.
Perry is touring Ireland in 2016 to mark the 40th anniversary of his seminal Super Ape album, which he made with his band The Upsetters in 1976. Perry will perform the album on stage at The Loft, Seven, Bridge Street, on Saturday March 5 at 9pm - indeed 2016 has a double significance for Perry, as it will also be his 80th birthday.
In the late sixties, early seventies, Perry moved to ‘uptown’ Kingston, where he created the famous Black Ark studio. According to his biography: “Perry shot pistols, broke glass, ran tapes backwards, and used samples of crying babies, falling rain, and animal sounds. Innovation and experimentation became Black Ark trademarks. He used eccentric methods such as cleaning the tape heads with his T-shirt and blowing ganja smoke onto the master tapes as they rolled, ensuring the music recorded in the Black Ark would have a dirty, magical, quality to it that would never be surpassed.”
It was here Perry, leading and directing a host of musicians, created Super Ape, one of the great reggae albums, of which Pitchfork said: "Super Ape is a common gateway for the Perry experience because it's overtly badass...Super Ape is heavy, hairy, slow, warm, pulsing, and only part human. Nothing takes precedence in a Perry mix; each sound seems to disappear into another. The psychedelic tension here is rhythmic; the literal, locked groove of the bass and drums bounce under a swirling mess of sounds overhead."
Perry is a genius. Don't miss this chance to see him perform a classic album, and wish him a happy birthday. Support is from Galway DJ Dave Barry. Tickets are €22.50 from www.sevenbridgestreet.ie
