OUR DAY AT THE BOB MARLEY MUSEUM
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Yesterday we joined the yearly local pilgrimage to Bob Marley’s house at Hope Road 58, for an entire day of entertainment, food and crafts. We had noticed the place becoming more and more crowded year after year, and this year we read something about tickets. The show would still be free, but if you wanted to come after 3 pm (and not do the ‘morning shift’ at the museum as well), you’d have to present one of the free tickets that were available at the Museum or at Tuff Gong Studio. We passed thought the museum a couple of days ago but they said they were out of tickets. The advice was to show up at 9 in the morning when free bracelets would be distributed.
No way we were going in the morning, or even at 3 pm, so we just did our thing and arrived at the museum at about 5 pm. As we expected, it was pretty chaotic over there. Groups of people were flocked around the entrance, wondering why they were not allowed to go inside. The only thing the people from the organization would say was: ‘you need tickets, there are no more tickets’. They would not tell you if more tickets would be distributed, or what you should do if you didn’t have tickets. In the meantime, people were selling the free tickets they picked up earlier for 1000, sometimes 2000 Jamaican dollars, right at the gate. Now and then a group of tourists, tired of waiting at the traffic crazy entrance on Hope road, paid for their tickets and went in. Unfortunately, there were no vendors allowed at the entrance, which would have made the wait a little more comfortable in the sense that I’d be able to buy a Red Stripe.
Not in the mood to pay for free tickets, we left the chaos for a while and had a beer on Marley Road where the vendors gathered. We managed to walk into the museum a bit later. Inside you could see the effects of the ‘crowd control’ measures: it was easier to move around than most years. A considerable amount of people did hear about the ticketing system and had come realy early to be sure to get in. Some of those who got in at 9 in the morning were still standing strong by midnight, some weren’t. In the back of the house you had the craft market, the veggie food stands and a screen showing the stage performances that were going on the front of the house. The crowd was a mix of tourists and locals alike, and everyone was getting along just fine.
The vibes were nice, as was the music. For us, It was Jessey Royal’s showcase that brought out those rootsie Marley vibes. The Marley brothers were impressive. For those of us who have never gotten the chance to see Bob Marley live, hearing his songs being performed by his sons, will be the closest thing to what a Bob Marley concert would have been like. The final ‘star time’ segment of the show was a wonderful rapid succession of artists Gyptian, Ibah Mahr, Capleton, Kabaka Pyramid, Richie Spice, Marcia Griffiths, and Popcaan. Around 1 am we were back on Hope Road.
Reggae Month a Gwaan! See you at the next show.