The Wailers at ASU

Friday afternoon, as I checked in a tenter from Columbia, South Carolina at Honey Bear Campground, he told me that the purpose of his stay was to attend a concert by The Wailers at Appalachian State University.

THE Wailers? As in Bob Marley and The Wailers???

Yup! They were playing at Legends, an ASU students' nightclub and social center. The ASU campus is only 3 miles from Honey Bear Campgound.

Over the years I've enjoyed several live reggae performances. But, there were a few things that discouraged me about this concert:

• The music wasn't scheduled to start until 9:30 pm, and an opening band was going to play for an hour. That meant that The Wailers wouldn't start performing until about 11:00 pm, which is way past my bedtime.
• The venue was a nightclub. I've rarely been in bars, and never in a club. (Drinking makes me sleepy, so I don't drink often.) Although I knew I'd love the music, I wasn't so sure about the atmosphere.
• The online ticket sales website listed the event as BYOB; each person was allowed to bring six beers. (Again, I wasn't sure if it was someplace I'd want to be.)

Okay, I figured, if I get too tired, or if I'm really not comfortable in that crowd, I can always leave.

So I went. On the way I even picked up a 6-pack of Guiness Draught. (Drank 2 at the concert, brought 4 home.)

I couldn't have enjoyed it more.

The opening band, Soul Benefactor, was great. With guitar, bass, drums, trumpet, and trombone, they played an hour of upbeat music, including a few Stevie Wonder songs.

The Wailers -- as expected -- were awesome. (The guy who told me about the concert said that one of the vocalists was Bob Marley's nephew.)

The crowd was 99% ASU students (I saw a handful of fossils my age), and they were all there to enjoy the music. No smoke, no rowdiness; just a whole lotta fun!