Photos by: Rebecca Carter
The Aggrolites don’t look like your stereotypical reggae
band. Opting for matching red jump suits over dreadlocks, they took the stage
at the Middle East looking more like Devo then
the early roots reggae acts whose influences they embrace.
Currently
on tour in support of their third album, Reggae
Hit L.A., The Aggrolites delivered a performance reminiscent of the early
days of the reggae/ska combo, back before ska became homogenized into one
mainstream, happy-go-lucky beat (exemplified by opening act The Stolen Records
who butchered what they presumably felt to be an obligatory Operation Ivy
cover).
They opened the set with “Reggae in the Ghetto,” and from
the moment they took the stage, The Aggrolites never stopped moving, it was
amazing that they didn’t crash into each other on the cramped stage of the Middle East. The crowd, a good mix of ska boys in suits
and dread heads in tie-dyes, skanked along to the ricocheting energy. And if
there was any question as to just how tight The Aggrolites are, they capped off
“Dirty Reggae” with a sick little jam of the band starting and stopping on dime
through a series of completely differing riffs that got everyone to stop dancing
and freeze in a collective unanimous “holy shit.”
Other songs
included in the set were “Mr. Misery,” “Funky Fire,” “Well Runs Dry” and “Love
Isn’t Love.” The high-light of the set came during “Someday,” with the type of
sing-a-along particular to Boston crowds with everyone singing the chorus even
louder then the band until front man Jesse Wagner just dropped the microphone
out to the audience and the band stopped playing, allowing the crowd to finish
the song off with beers raised.
The
Aggrolites successfully recaptured the street-wise working-class attributes of
reggae and delivered it with the encapsulating sense of unity that is the true
core of reggae; no dreadlocks needed.
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