Photo: Colleen Hayes
As if to (
) say goodbye to the beloved amphitheater, people turned up in droves June 2 to see one of Paolo Soleri's (
) last concerts,
Nas
and
Damian Marley
. ---
The decision to record an album together and their "from
Africa
" explanation for it were tenuous from the start, but their presence on stage together—and for a large part, not together—drove the absurdity home. Somehow, though, they made it work, and so did Santa Fe.
It's clear Nas' pervading nihilism doesn't jibe with Damian Marley's predominant 7th grade geography outrage (not to say these outrages aren't still important, but Marley has a habit of making it seem like he and and the audience just found out about them).
Seemingly aware of their incongruity, one or the other would leave the stage (to go to Counter Culture? Dara Thai?) for large stretches of time, though they began and ended the show together.
For the largest crowd-pleasers, Nas fell back on his old standbys ("Hate Me Now") and Marley on his father's hooks. But there was also a forged topicality to be had:
Nas: "Fuck you
Arizona
and
Haiti
is a fucking mess."
Marley: "Be nice
Arizona
and help your fellow man in
Haiti
."
Back up singers of ambiguous genres (and neat West African dance moves); a dude with dreads, a Rasta shirt and the position of flag-twirler; as well as some wonderful musicians made this hodgepodge of a show a pretty wonderful production. However, like Nas and Marley's album Distant Relatives, no matter how thoughtfully produced, the disjoint remained a chasm.
And maybe such disparity is ideal in eclectic/anything-friendly Santa Fe. Santa Fe's inopportune placement out of the way of bigger cities in
Arizona
and
Colorado
en route to
California
leaves it often starved from big-ticket acts, especially hip-hop ones, so the crowd was ready to eat this concert, whatever it was. And whether the audience was there to see Nas, Damian Marley, Bob Marley, or strangely all three, they got what they wanted.
Near the concert's close on a clear and warm night, at possible one of the most beautiful, intimate and non-claustrophobic venues there is, Nas an Marley settled on a mutually acceptable refrain: "we can work it out."
Really, they did just that, but in separate bedrooms.
Photos: Colleen Hayes
