On August 7 Rebelution headlined the first of 3 nights at the Pacific Amphitheatre, another in a great season at the OC Fair. Skip Marley and Niko Rubio supported them. It was one of those Costa Mesa evenings that makes you glad you bought the ticket—warm but not hot, a breeze coming in off the coast, and the smell of fair food drifting over the hill behind the amphitheatre. People were in their seats early for this one, which does not always happen at the fair, and you could tell from the parking lot that it was going to be a good night.
Niko Rubio started things off. This was my second time seeing her, and she was just as amazing as I remembered her. I love her mix of different music genres. She is a Mexican and Salvadoran American artist out of Southern California, and she pulls from dreamy alt-pop, mariachi, and old-school R&B without any of it feeling forced.
It all works even better live than it does on record. She played songs “Sunday Girl,” “Savior Girl,” and “Ring Ring” from her recent EP. Her band was tight, her voice carried all the way to the back rows, and she had the early crowd on her side within about two songs. If you have not heard her yet, go find “Ring Ring” and the newer “Sunday Girl” material. She is only going to get bigger from here.
Next up was Skip Marley. He came out, and from the first note, he was making the crowd move. He played his original “Lions,” as well as Bob Marley covers “Exodus” and “Is This Love.” With every song he played, you could see and hear the feeling in it, and all the fans were singing along.
Skip is Bob’s grandson, and every so often, a phrase will come out, and the resemblance in the voice stops you for a second, but he is very much his own artist, and he has the stage presence to back it up. He worked the whole front of the stage, got the seated sections up on their feet, and never let the energy drop. He and Rebelution also have a song together, “Let Go,” so this pairing is more than just two names on the same ticket.
Then it was time for who everyone had come for: Rebelution. They came out to a standing ovation. You could feel the excitement in the crowd. Eric Rachmany, Rory Carey, Marley D. Williams, and Wesley Finley have been playing together since they formed in Isla Vista back in 2004, and more than twenty years in, it shows in the way they lock in with each other without even trying.
They had an amazing set with songs “Inhale Exhale,” “Attention Span,” “So High,” “Count Me In,” “Feeling Alright,” and “Roots Reggae Music.” The older songs got the loudest response, but nothing in the set felt like filler, and the band stretched a few of them out and let the solos breathe instead of racing to the next one.
As always, the light show and performance were amazing. Rebelution has always put as much care into the lights as into the music, and the Pacific Amphitheatre is the right room for it—big enough that a show feels like an event, small enough that even the back of the house feels close to the stage. Sitting there watching the color wash across a few thousand people singing along, it was easy to remember why this band has been able to fill three nights in a row here.
It was a perfect Friday night in the Summer at Pacific Amphitheatre, and they still had two more nights to go. If the first one was any indication, the people holding tickets for Saturday and Sunday were in for a treat. The Summer Concert Series at the OC Fair has had a strong run this year, and this was one of the nights that will stick with me.
SKIP MARLEY
NIKO RUBIO
