Aside from being occasionally (and incorrectly) filed near one another by record clerks who don't know how to alphabetize, the Beatles -- particularly the pre-LSD hits -- and Bob Marley don't really have a whole lot in common.
Can you think of two genres as disparate as reggae and British Invasion-style mod pop 'n' roll? Sure, both were a hit at one point or another in the U.K. But if you stack the two scenes next to each other, you will find a point of obvious contrast in everything from demographic to dance moves.
Like a tightly wound jack-in-the-box springing forth from a tightly sealed tin, pop-reggae vocalist Maxi Priest hopes to bridge the gap between the soundtrack to tea time circa 1964 and tunes you might hear while sitting among Rastafarians ceremonially burning reefer.
As part of a John Lennon tribute show held in early 2012, Priest
contributed a cover of the Paul McCartney-penned classic "All My
Loving." It is the very song that introduced shrieking teenaged girls
across America to the Beatles when they played it during their
appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964.
The R&B-reggae
fusionist and crossover artist probably recognizes the symbolic value of
covering this historically significant ditty. South Florida will get a
chance to witness Maxi Priest invoke his best Beatles bravado at the
Miramar Cultural Center. And we've got high hopes he does a sexy-soulful
panty-droppin' rendition of "I Am the Walrus."
Maxi Priest. 8 p.m. Saturday,
March 30, at Miramar Cultural Center, 2400 Civic Center Place, Miramar.
Tickets start at $35. Call 954-602-4500, or visit
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