Photo cred: Tizzy Tokyo

The red, gold and green were in abundance on a cool late September evening when the Marley Brothers Legacy Tour came through the Garden State to perform at the PNC Arts Center in Monmouth County, NJ.  The crowd quickly shuffling into the venue beamed with smiles, exuding giddy anticipation for the monumental event about to transpire. For the first time in over 20 years, five sons of Bob Marley have hit the road together to perform the legendary music of their late father. The Marley Brothers Legacy Tour kicked off on September 5th in Vancouver, British Columbia and will conclude precisely one month later in Miami, Florida, on October 5^th, diagonal geographic bookends to a tour spanning 22 dates across the North American continent.

Bob Marley would have turned 80 in 2025 and even 43 years after his passing, he remains the greatest ambassador of reggae music, Jamaican culture and Rasta livity throughout the world.  His canon of songs endures as a hallmark for the genre, music that continues to soothe and inspire new generations from all walks of life. For over 30 years, his sons have established themselves as renowned solo artists in each’s own right as they carry on his legacy in their own individual ways. No one can deny the might of unity, however, and, in the wake of the highly successful Bob Marley: One Love biopic and the 40-year anniversary of the release of Marley’s Legend, the greatest selling reggae album of all time, they’ve joined forces to celebrate the reggae icon’s lasting impact on the world.

Amidst loud cheers that erupted when the house lights of the pavilion dimmed, Ziggy, Stephen, Damian, Julian and Ky-Mani Marley walked upon the stage rather casually under subdued blue lighting to the deep, rumbling bass and steady skank of the intro to “Natural Mystic.” The song served as the perfect opener, as it slowly gains momentum, a musical accompaniment the building excitement of the crowd, while lyrically it serves as an apt metaphor for Marley and his music as a mystical force.

Over the next two hours, the Marley bredren along with glorious female harmony singers (the modern-day I-Threes) and the tightest of bands performed close to 30 songs to with passion and precision. According to Ky-Mani who I spoke with a few days before the show, Stephen served as the musical director for the tour, and he absolutely crushed it.  Given the constraints of a single evening performance and considering the depth of Marley’s beloved catalog, it had to be difficult deciding which songs to exclude. The brothers performed the majority of the songs from Legend and, while some may lament the omission of the AOR-hit “I Shot the Sherriff” or the acoustic ballad “Redemption Song,” surely many felt goosebumps while all five brothers sang the anthemic “Iron Lion Zion” in unison.

Photo cred: Michael Caswell

Many reggae fans appreciate the Rastafarian aspect of the music and they had to be pleased with the inclusion of “Crazy Baldheads,” “Rastaman Vibration” and “War,” the militant anti-racism paean with lyrics derived from Emperor Haile Selassie’s 1963 speech to the United Nations. In fact, Rasta vibes were front and center all night long with the rotating imagery on the video screen stage backdrop in addition to, most prominently, Flagman Judah on stage waving a large Rasta flag throughout the entire performance.  (That dude must have some incredible arm and core strength.)

Stephen did a fantastic job selecting a mix of Bob’s most impactful songs from across his catalog, including “Coming in from the Cold,” from Uprising with Ziggy on the mic, Exodus’ “Heathen” led by Ky-Mani’s raspy twang, and all five bredren trading lines and then singing in unison the chorus of “Wake Up and Live” from the Survival album.  That was especially inspiring, especially given the context of the times. Also from Survival, Damian inserted a raucous dancehall breakdown in the middle of “So Much Trouble in the World,” and from the Kaya LP, Julian took the lead on the chill “Running Away,” which features one of my favorite Bob Marley lyrics, “Who feels it knows it, Lord.” I’ve often used that line when vibing with fellow fans, or dismissing those who don’t understand the splendor of reggae.

They reached back to 1974’s Natty Dread with Stephen singing “Rebel Music” and the previous year’s Catch a Fire, the first album released on Island Records that really began to put Bob’s music on the international stage. From Fire, they collectively performed “No More Trouble” and “Concrete Jungle,” sung properly resolute by Damian, his long dreads dangling to his ankles.

While the night certainly focused on the music and message of their late father, the Marleys reminded fans that reggae music keeps moving forward by including some of the brothers’ crucial cuts of their own. Ziggy appropriately sang “Shalom Salaam,” a poignant song about the awful ongoing Palestine-Israel conflict, as well as, a bit later, “Melancholy Mood.” Julian followed that by leading his banger “Boom Draw,” and then Ky-Mani sang his popular “New Heights,” three successive songs that celebrate ganja.  Damian took a moment to give one of the only spoken-word messages of the evening, pointing out the common thread of cannabis, announcing, “Cannabis saves lives.”  He then had the audience repeat that statement before reciting, over gentle piano, a poem about the benefits of marijuana. Upon completion of the poem, he went into his song, “Medication,” and the group culminated the sequence by sharing an especially spirited version of Bob’s “Kaya” with Damian inserting another electric dancehall passage.

Worth mentioning, Stephen ensured the pace of the concert was swift; They often went from one song right into the next. With the exception of Damian’s aforementioned very brief homage to cannabis, there were no stories or speeches or proselytizing. Instead, the Marleys let the music do the talking, keeping the energy high all night.

One particularly moving moment occurred when, as “Crazy Baldheads” wound down, Ky-Mani, who was only five years old when Bob passed,  asked the crowd if we’d mind if he shared a “letter” to his father with us. He then sang an excerpt from his song, “Dear Dad:”

Dear God,
I have a letter here from me to dad,
and I want you to know it might be a little sad.
Dear Dad, I really didn’t get to know you
Sometimes I sit and wonder and it makes me blue
But there is one memory that stays on the back of my mind
And this memory got me thinking ‘bout you all the time
Oh Pa, I swear we miss you so
And I wish that you were here to see your boys grow.
In case you are wondering, my Mom she’s doing fine
She tell me story, bout you all the time
So when I’m down and out, lonely or just feeling blue
All I do is think of you
The thoughts all erase my fears and drive my tears
I’m just writing to let you know someone cares
Daddy I love you, I Love you, really really love you
Daddy I miss you, I miss you and I know my brothers and sisters do too

The Marleys treated concertgoers to a breathtaking performance from start to finish, and the fans’ fervor added to the intoxicating merriment. I’ve been attending concerts at this venue my entire life and I can never recall a crowd as loud as when, during “Three Little Birds,” the brothers let the audience sing the chorus a few times.

The musicians closed out the show with an especially boisterous version of “Exodus,” ignited by Damian chanting another fierce dancehall section. His booming voice and serious ragamuffin chops brought a modern flair to iconic roots reggae songs, heightening the electrifying vibes throughout the venue.

Photo cred: Tizzy Tokyo

After “Exodus,” the musicians departed the stage, naturally returning a few minutes later with the supplications of the frenzied crowd. For the encore, they delivered an amped-up version of the already upbeat “Could You Be Loved,” Ziggy leading the song from the front of the stage, his arms outstretched over the crowd as if he was trying to hug everyone in attendance.  Finally, they closed with one of the most unifying songs of all time, the title of which has become symbolic of reggae music itself, “One Love.”

I’ve seen Bob’s music played expertly by “Family Man” Barrett, Al Anderson and Junior Marvin with their various incarnations of The Wailers, but there’s something extraordinary about seeing Bob’s progeny perform his music. Each of his sons embody different aspects of Bob’s persona to varying degrees, whether through their looks, voices or onstage mannerisms. I’ve often felt this having seen Ziggy many times with his infectious energy, dreads whipping around as he sings while running in place, but watching Julian, dressed in a blue button-down denim shirt like the one Bob had been photographed in numerous times, hop and twirl, arms waving, flailing around the stage to “Jamming,” truly felt like he was channeling his father.

Every single one of the musicians on stage are riddled with talent and watching them perform indelible songs that have been cherished by fans for years made for a truly exhilarating experience.  A few days later, I still find myself vibing from my recollections of the show. If any upcoming dates of this tour are within your reach, I highly recommend making it happen.  I hope we don’t have to wait another 20 years before the bredren tour together again.

A few days before the show, I spoke with Ky-Mani about the tour and the interview transcript is below.

RF: With such a large extended family, I’m curious if there are occasions that bring the entire clan together, or will this tour be sort of one of the only times that you’re spending time with a group of your siblings?

KM:  We spend time together all the time. We’re a very close-knit family, you know, and we usually keep at least one concert a year where we all share the stage together, but outside of that, we spend a lot of time together outside of the stage.

RF: Are you closer with certain siblings more so than others?

KM: Everybody’s the same. It’s one circle, you know what I mean? It’s one circle. We share the same sentiments for each other.

RF: Could you speak a little bit about how this tour materialized as far as like whose idea it was or how  the ball got rolling?

KM:  Well, my older brothers, Ziggy and Stephen, have been talking about this for quite some while now, you know, so this is always something that we’ve wanted to do, that we’ve been talking about doing for quite some time versus just the one show that we usually have per year. And this is just coming to fruition right now, you know?

RF: And I know the timing is right with the release of the movie this past year and the 40 year anniversary of Legend.

KM: Yes, indeed.

RF: What was the greatest challenge in making this tour happen? Maybe just logistically getting everybody together?

KM: I mean, getting everyone together, as far as we’re concerned, that’s fairly easy, you know, because like I said, this was in the making for a time. So, we just allotted the time, you know, we had to keep that time slot open to make this happen. And, for the most part, it’s been a smooth ride, at least from this side of the table. I don’t know if the production team has been having any hiccups at all. But as far as we’re concerned, everything has been going nice and smooth.

RF: You mentioned the production team, and that leads into my next questions. I was curious if there are people behind the scenes that have had a big impact on the performance, you know, whether it be like a musical director or a choreographer or anything like that?

KM: My older brother Steven is the M.D. He’s the captain of the ship.

RF: How much rehearsing did you and the brothers have to do to gear up for this tour?

KM: A solid two and a half weeks, about two and a half to three weeks.

RF:  And you feel like you’ve got a well-oiled machine at this point?

KM:  Oh, absolutely. And you know, it’s songs that we’re familiar with. It’s our father’s songs, so we’re just really making sure that the band was playing everything as it’s supposed to be played, and tight. Yeah, we’re definitely a well-oiled machine right now.

RF: I was curious how it was decided which of your father’s songs to sing and who would sing each song, or are you sharing vocals within the same song? I haven’t seen the performance yet, so I don’t know. I guess Stephen made that decision.

KM: We share vocals on some songs and some songs we sing individually. And yeah, our musical director decided who sings what and who sings where.

RF: Okay. So he gives the marching orders and you just follow suit, then?

KM: That’s it.

RF: Is it the same set list each night, or are you gonna mix it up?

KM: It’s the same set list.  We might change a song here and there, but for the most part it’s the same set list.

RF:  I’m curious, what are your personal favorites of your father’s songs? Are there any songs of his that will not be performed that you personally wish would be?

KM: You know, I don’t have any favorites. I say it all the time, there are different songs for different moods that I’m in. So, you know, today my favorite could be “Sheriff” and tomorrow, it could be “One Love,” just depends where my headspace is at the time. And there’s so much songs that we wish we can sing, but it’s only a two-hour show. I mean, we wish we could sing ’em all.

RF: What about the songs of your brothers’, do you have any favorites?

KM:  Oh, wow. (Laughs.) No, I love everything, man. I love the creativity.   I love the whole process of it, so it’s hard to say you have a favorite, you know what I mean? My brother’s songs for me are the same as my father’s songs. I love them all.

RF: I get that. At this point, with the tour about halfway completed, I’m curious if you have any favorite performances or special moments, either on stage or backstage or within your travels,  that will stand out in your memory for years to come?

KM: Oh, wow, tough question. That’s hard to say because every night is memorable. Like I said, we usually have one show here where we share the stage together. And I usually look forward to that moment because there’s nothing like being on stage with your brothers, you know, and going through the emotions of being able to perform your father’s songs along with your own songs. So, for me, every night is special. Of course. you know, there are different venues where the energy of the crowd is a little different. But every night is special man, you know, especially because the people come out to see us. So, you know, that within itself is special.

RF:  Have you had any performances where you can you recall that the energy was, you know, super high compared to some of the other performances?

KM: The energy is usually high, because the crowd fuels you. So, the more energy you get from the crowd is the more energy you give. Yeah. But we’re always gonna give energy, but sometime you give a little more because what’s being given to you.

RF: I understand. I know that when you’re spending a lot of time together with people, and you guys are doing like 20 something nights in a, in a month, so it’s a real grind, and I know sometimes that could be a bit stressful. I’m curious if the tour’s been kind of fraying people’s nerves or bringing people closer together, or kind of just status quo?

KM:  Definitely bringing people closer together. You know, because we know the mission that we are out here on, we know the legacy that we’re out here promoting. And, you know, that is one love, one heart, one aim, one destiny. So, we are all in, we are all living in harmony, you know, and it’s, it’s a beautiful time.

RF:  Excellent. Well, I’m pretty excited to see you guys next week and add my impressions of the performance to the article along with the responses to these questions that you were kind enough to answer. Is there anything else you feel that I should write about or, or that you’d like to say that I perhaps didn’t ask about?

KM: Well, I would like to say that I have a new single out titled “New Creature” that’s been released about three weeks now, and there’s a new album titled Love and Energy that will be out shortly.

RF: Well, we’ll keep an eye out for that for sure, and maybe give it some coverage on Rootfire.

KM: Yes, sir. I would appreciate of that. ‘Nuff Love and respect, man.

RF: Right back at you Ky-Mani. Thank you so much for today. I greatly appreciate it, and I wish you well.

KM: Bless up.

Photo cred: Tizzy Tokyo