Concert Review: John Brown’s Body

By: Juan Barragan
John Brown’s Body
The Griffin
9 November 2013

A very special artist graced The Griffin with its presence this past weekend. The East Coast Reggae band in question, John Brown’s Body, packed the venue to capacity as the local San Diegans prepared to dance the night away to really high quality Reggae music. The Griffin is located in Morena, a few minutes from the USD campus, and besides featuring huge shows in an intimate setting, the venue also does a good job at keeping its floors impeccably clean; a rarity for music venues in the area.

John Brown’s Body has been touring across the nation in support of their newly released album, Kings and Queens, which was released earlier this year. The beginning of their set featured a few songs from that album, which sparked excitement in the crowd. One of those songs was “Step Inside,” which is bound to be one of the most popular hits from the album. The song features extremely catchy verses that are matched perfectly with the band’s melodic riffs that the horn section creates. After playing some of their hits, the band played “Empty Hands,” which the horn section used to showcase their talent. The vocalist got a feel for the crowd’s energy when he asked them how they were feeling that night. The response was potent and immediate; cheers momentarily drowned the sounds of the instruments as the audience displayed their approval. John Brown’s Body eventually momentarily left the stage, but the crowd was not ready to go home, they wanted more. They came back out and played “Plantation,” and “Old John Brown.” The crowd got to dance to the latter of the two songs, as it featured a generally faster tempo than the rest of the band’s set that night. These two songs were just what the crowd wanted and what they expected from a night full of Reggae.

Fans of Reggae music can purchase tickets to see Pacific Dub and Wait for Green at The Griffin for this Friday November 15 by going to the venue’s website. John Brown’s Body’s show at The Griffin wrapped up their national tour in support of their new album. The tour was a great success and their new album got rave reviews from everyone in the national Reggae community.