Having somehow never managed to catch Toots live in the past I was extremely excited about the prospect of seeing him play the Colston Hall. I was initially surprised at the choice of venue, considering it has more seating than standing space; however any concerns I had were put to rest upon arrival. With tickets collected from the box office and a rather expensive beer in hand the wife and I took a wander into the venue itself. Every time I visit the Colston Hall I always seem to remember it being larger than it actually is with much less standing space, which is not the case. The venue is fairly intimate with a good amount of space to have a right good skank around.

Supporting Toots were Bristol’s own Babyhead, a ten piece outfit mixing up the best in ska, hip-hop, dub and funk. These guys know how to start a party, their live shows always feature a dedicated horn section, tonight however we were just treated to the trombone. The Babyhead lads enjoy the showmanship of performing; their two charismatic front men, one of whom is extremely vertically challenged, leaped around the stage trading witty and imaginative lyrics with unadulterated energy. Their set got the crowd up and ready for the main event.

No flashy musical intros, just the riddim to Pressure Drop and on walks the man himself, Toots Hibbert, asking us if we’re ready for the pressure to drop. The place went crazy as the tune dropped. My immediate impression was that Toots had begun to lose his powerful and distinctive voice; however my fears were soon washed away as he warmed to the task at hand and began belting out those oh so famous lyrics.

For a man in his 60s Toots had the energy of someone half his age, running around the stage, a huge smile on his face pulling off some serious moves! He and the Maytals ran through a host of classic tunes including; Pressure Drop; Sweet and Dandy; Reggae Got Soul; Funky Kingston; Bam Bam; and Monkey Man to name a handful. There were many highlights throughout the night but the encore was pretty special – when the ‘feels like jumping’ riddim dropped to 54-46 (That’s My Number) the place went absolutely crazy!!

The Coston Hall was jumping; Toots worked the crowd like an old pro, his interaction made it even more special - shaking hands with the front row throughout, throwing bottles of water to the crowd and telling us that playing an hour and half set was just not good enough! The band was tight and the sound was excellent, however I did feel the vocals could have been notched up a tad higher. Thankfully the sound didn’t suffer from that modern, over-produced quality that sadly afflicts the latest album.

As always with reggae the crowd were a diverse bunch, from the kids to the OAP’s, from punks to dreads. The atmosphere was incredibly positive and from where I stood everyone had an amazing time.

Review by Jumpup

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