Live Review - Toots and the Maytals

Toots and the Maytals @ Rock City : 8/9/2016

Reggae wasn’t always a thing, it’s a word that we hear so often that
it’s difficult to imagine that up until 1968 that word wasn’t even a
word…

The man responsible for bringing reggae to a global audience was
Frederick “Toots” Hibbert and tonight along with his band The Maytals
(which includes his incredibly talented daughter on backing vocals) hit
Nottingham Rock City.

Before Toots takes to the stage his daughter Leba starts off the show
singing a couple of tracks with The Maytals as her backing band, the girl
has an incredible voice and commands the stage, the band and the
audience with the authority of a performer who has clearly been bought
up by one of the greats. Speaking of which it’s not long before the man
himself comes out to a rapturous reception, clearly well loved and
respected by his fans Toots has an air of splendour that I have rarely
seen at a show. His voice is awesome and he barely misses a beat all
evening, Toots and the Maytals have song after song of pure reggae joy. I
don’t think I have ever seen a Rock City crowd so full of smiles and
joy. The crowd contained a surprising mix of ages, races and backgrounds
from young to old, middle aged teachers and unwashed students all
coming together to dance, skank, bounce around and generally have a good
time.

Toots and the Maytals didn’t disappoint, it’s fair to say that these
boys aren’t spring chickens anymore but that only added to the
professionalism and glory of the night. A night that I’ll long remember, a
night that the crowd at Rock City will long remember. May Toots and the
Maytals play together for many years to come and if you haven’t already
seen them, you should and if you have already seen them then no doubt
you’ll want to see them again as soon as possible!