There was a time when the dub legend might have ambled on stage with an electric fire on his head … plugged in.
But, by his standards, Friday’s outfit was understated – just a suit and hat covered in mirrors and more jewellery than an audition for Mr T lookalikes.
The maverick producer’s set was familiar to anyone who has seen him over the years, with reworkings of old songs, strange monologues and bizarre toasting.
Backed by a competent if uninspiring eight-piece, Perry croaked through Bob Marley’s Crazy Baldhead, No Woman No Cry and Small Axe as well as his own Roast Fish And Cornbread and Jungle Safari.
Those were the numbers I thought I recognised because Perry is no singer.
He warned Brighton faced trouble on “Judgement Day” and boasted that, although Marley and rival producer Coxsone Dodd were dead, he was very much alive.
The downside to all this wilful weirdness is you forget how important he is in the history of music.
And it was telling that, fun as he was, Perry didn’t get the biggest cheer of evening. That came earlier when support act Max Romeo sang his hit War Ina Babylon [sic].
Written and produced by Lee Perry, it is one of the greatest reggae songs ever.
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