Last Night: Collie Buddz at Nectar + Video Footage

Seattle audiences are starved for good reggae music. I've noticed this trend on numerous occasions since moving here from South Florida several months ago. There's not nearly enough reggae coming through town on a consistent basis, and crowds are hungry for quality artists to play in this market. Last night, Bermudian reggae star Collie Buddz played Nectar and eager fans came out ready to soak up some of his island culture and reggae grooves.

I first met Collie (real name Colin Harper) a few years ago when I did a feature spread on him for FADER and he's really a good dude. Despite his gimmicky appearance on the surface (yes, he is yet another white dude singing reggae) the truth is, Collie's a real talented singer and producer. He'll probably always be plagued by people thinking he's a "fakin' Jamaican" but the twang in which he talks is real and the subject matter he sings about is genuine. Now the patois in which he sings is exaggerated a bit, but that's mainly because no matter what part of the Caribbean island chain you're from, the dominant sound for reggae music is Jamaican patois and Collie's just following suit.

For awhile, he used to just play shows with a DJ behind him, which was alright, but he's much better with a live band as Seattle audiences got to see last night.

From the moment he took the stage with the New Kingston band playing behind him, that gave his sound a whole other element. With drum, bass, keys, and vocalists on the stage accompanying him, the music was much more rich than I last remember. The only problem was that Colin and his band have been on the road for 2 1/2 months and they were notably tired yesterday. They did their best to have fun and Collie was full of energy in spurts, but the show lacked that umph that audiences often require to fully be satisfied. Well, maybe I should speak for myself because plenty of people there looked like they were having a great time.

There's definitely an element to his fan base that come out because he talks about marijuana in his music. That's always going to draw out the hippie crowd who were there in full force last night. And Collie didn't let them down at all. When he started singing his biggest ganja tune, "Come Around" the whole club was chanting "finally the herbs come around!" and you could feel the vibes in the place moving in a positive direction. Despite the fact that his voice was a little shot, he didn't hold back on songs like "Herb Tree" or "Mamacita," or one of my personal favorites, "Tomorrow's Another Day" produced by Supa Dups of Black Chiney.

The best part of the show was during the encore when Collie played a kick-ass version of the anti-hater anthem, "Blind to You" and everybody had to get a little frustration off of their chests. It's the type of song where you can think of those who hate on you and just sing, "I'm blind to you, haters, can't touch me war instigators" with a smile on your face. It wasn't the group's best show, true, but I think with a good night's rest, and 21+ crowd (last night was all ages) he'll be able to come back much stronger this evening for the second part of his two night stand at Nectar. For video of Collie Buddz performing "Blind to You" last night, check out Seattle Show Gal's footage below.