Jah is one of the tightest bands I’ve ever seen, easily switching from your standard loping reggae vibe to a superfast ska ‘tude worthy of The English Beat. While tracks like “Skanky Dreadlocks” and “Party Life” included lyrics that encouraged ingestion of controlled substances, Dr. Jah” Geoghegan as he called out “ONE LOVE!” and then counted the band into the opener “96 Degrees.” Original reggae is thin on the ground in my world, so I was digging the sound just as much as the “Rye Bread” aficionados parked on either side of my car. But there wasn’t any sign of rust on frontman Dave “Dr. Jah & the Love Prophets.Īpart from a video drop party for their new disc Creation, the band had been off the shelf since they played Putnam’s Den on Bob Marley’s birthday in February. I was able to get a cup of No-Sugar-Added Raspberry Swirl ice cream from Twist when I walked up to examine their massively varied menu, so I was happy and cool by the time WEQX’s Jeff Mo’rad brought on Dr. And to their credit, Jericho Drive-In had their own social-distance game locked in: If you wanted anything from the concession stand, you could only order it through the theater web site, and could only pick it up at the door of the building. To be fair, people did wear masks when they went around to socialize with other concertgoers, or when they walked to the concession stand, to Twist Ice Cream, or to the restroom. Essentially, it was Friday night at the town bandshell – except the “bandshell” was a fully-enclosed stage with light show and smoke machines, and the local orchestra had been replaced by one of the Capital Region’s premier party bands. I’d survived five months of House Arrest and wanted to keep that streak (and myself) alive.Ī group of kids playing together on the other side of the drive-in were masked, giving me hope for future generations, and kept playing until the emcee politely asked them to “Please social distance.” The adults were all hanging out on blankets and lawn chairs, on fenders and tailgates. Most of them were maskless, which kept me inside my car until the call for the Men’s Room could no longer be ignored. There were three rows of cars, almost all of them with families or friends gathered around their vehicle. In the spirit of the headliners and the documentary film that would follow them, Bob Marley’s stellar album Exodus was playing on Jericho’s carrier-current FM station as I pulled up to the front row of the theater. I decided to check out the scene at Jericho Drive-In in Glenmont, just a few miles east of where I used to play Rock & Roll Morning Deejay too many years ago. Since then, at least three drive-ins in Greater Nippertown have hosted concerts, with more shows on the way. That said, if Americans are anything, we are go-getters and problem-solvers as such, the idea of using drive-in theaters as music venues cropped up early, and did make the most sense: Drive-ins were open-air with large amounts of space to spread out, and if people wanted to social-distance, they could stay in their cars.
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