Morgan Heritage

"If you love reggae music say yes Rasta!"

The air thick with heavy, sweet-smelling smoke, surrounded by men with dreads down their backs and everyone drinking Malibu and coke or cans of Red Stripe. My beloved student union had become very much like the underground reggae club I stumbled into in Slovenia. This was the real thing. A good, mixed crowd made up of die hard Rastas, student stoners, middle-aged couples and people who were just intrigued.

For those who are unsure of what the hell I’m talking about, Morgan Heritage is a reggae group made up of five of the twenty nine children of reggae legend Denroy Morgan. All talented instrumentalists and singers, the band fuse traditional reggae with rock sensibilities and song structure. The resulting sound resembles Bob Marley at his finest musically, and Buju Banton at his most relaxed lyrically.

The latest album, ‘Three in One’ name-checks numerous punk bands and features members of Good Charlotte on the final track. Could this be the reggae band of our generation? Whilst reggae may not be cool at the moment, wait until the one weekend when the sun comes out, everyone’s throwing parties and wishing they had some cool reggae that’s not Bob Marley to play.

The show ends in comfy style and the band keep it real by promising to hang out all night by the t-shirt stand. The crowd love it all and the band look like they feel the same. It’s always good to see a band actually enjoy performing and I truly believe this band does. Though they have been around for years this is my first taste of Morgan Heritage and hopefully not my last.