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The 9th Annual Bob Marley Festival

a review of the Annual Bob Marley Festival 2002

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"No water can put out this fire" sang the Reggae prophet in Natty Dread Rides again and the rain on Saturday's Bob Marley Festival in Miami didn't seem to dampen the spirits of the many Reggae music fans who turned out to pay tribute to Marley. The Festival featuring the Marley family and Reggae and Hip-Hop stars has become an Annual tradition in Miami (The U.S. base for the family) bringing fans of all races and ages together for an evening of joyous celebration "One Love" style. This years festival was moved to Virginia Key Beach on Key Biscayne because the AT&T amphitheater (its usual venue) was already booked by Cirque du Soliel.

Early in the evening fans were treated to a performance by Tony Rebel whose own birthday celebration "The Rebel Salute" took recently place in Jamaica. Rebel's hit "Just Friends" was a crowd pleaser and his lively stage performance kept the crowd singing and dancing in the rain. Rebel was followed by dancehall star Sean Paul and R&B songstress Erykah Badu both were well received.

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The Marley Brothers Ghetto Youths Crew featured Marley son Grammy nominated Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley and his brothers Stephen and Julian, but it was Damian's moment to shine in the spotlight. His other brother Kymani, also nominated for a Grammy wasn't present. The brothers performed several songs from Damian's album and a few of their father's classics including a very inspiring performance of Exodus. The last surviving Wailer, Bunny "Jah-B" Wailer joined the brothers on stage and a suprise appearance by Wyclef Jean brought the house down.

Also appearing from the Marley Clan was "Mother B", Bob's mother and Pearl Livingston (who happens to be both Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer's sister.) They were also joined on stage by Miami's R&B diva Betty Wright. Then came another member of the Marley Family (by marriage) Lauryn Hill, who

took to the stage with just a guitar and proceeded to play a set consisting of new songs not yet recorded or released. In between tears and emotional outbursts, Lauryn visibly shaken admitted to the audience that she was having personal problems and removed her baseball cap to reveal a newly shaven head. Her hour-long solo performance did not go over well with the audience as they were in the mood to celebrate and she was self-admittedly sad and "angry". One member of the audience told me "don't get me wrong I love Lauryn, but this is unnecessary," other comments were less kind. Shortly after Lauryn's set Foxy Brown took to the stage with her usual Hype show, but the audience already dampened by the rain and Hill's moody performance had already dispersed. Performances by DMX and Baby Cham closed the evening. Marley's legacy lives on and his family continues to carry on his musical message of love, peace and Rastafari "let's get together and feel alrite."