Arriving in Ireland with a CV which has the words "legendary", "innovator" and "maverick" etched in stone on it, Lee Scratch Perry (aka The Upsetter) inevitably failed to reach the giddy heights that his status dictates. Backed by a three-piece band, 64-year-old Perry is a certifiable giant of reggae music, a man famous not only for his production, writing and arranging work with a huge number of reggae artists, but for his seminal Black Ark studio achievements from the mid-1970s onwards. Here, in a small four-track wooden studio, Perry deployed phase-shifting and multi-layered mixing techniques to produce dub reggae - in the right hands an echoey, Twilight Zone sound effect best heard either under the influence, via headphones, or both.
As he took to the stage in front of a heaving audience (his lack of mainstream success over the past 20 years having no discernible effect on attendance) it was clear that we were going to be on the receiving end of no more than a functional performance. Nevertheless, he functioned well enough to bestow a distinct impression of his genius-like reputation.
The music was for the most part rough and ready, with Perry's trademark rhythms ebbing and flowing like a dream continually interrupted. Sonically, a rewarding experience, then. Otherwise, approach with caution and a mellow attitude.
