Lee Scratch Perry

Call him what you will... The Upsetter, Jah Lion, Super Ape, or just plain ole Scratch, Lee Perry is a towering figure in reggae, a living legend responsible directly or indirectly for dozens of classics over the past forty years. As a performer however, he is an acquired taste and tends to rely more on his reputation and eccentric demeanour than on his er, singing talents.

But on this Paddy’s night in the capital the diminutive Dubmaster could do no wrong and an ecstatic audience treated him like he was the second coming. With a slim three-piece band supplying some fairly rudimentary rhythms Perry came across like the true Shaman/Guru space cadet that he is.

The trademark mirrored hat flopping around his tiny head and clasping a microphone draped in all manner of Rasta paraphernalia he dipped in and out of his back catalogue with abandon, intermingling his often incoherent words with lots of exhortations to “peace”. It was infectious and hypnotic – the combination of Perry’s trippy, stream of consciousness delivery and the syncopated bass-heavy rhythms transforming the venue into a heaving, if temporary “movement of Jah People” for the entire performance.

Not bad going for a man fast approaching 70!