Sometimes there's a very good case for cliches being true - especially the ones about music soothing the savage breast and about music's soul-comforting abilities.
However, exceptions must be made to such rules when it concerns large crowds, like Salt Lake ones.More than 3,000 supposed peaceniks crammed the entrance to Saturday night's reggae fest, the Ram Slam Dub Jam Tour - even though the entrance didn't open until 9 p.m. and the music didn't start until 10 p.m.
By the time co-headliner Dread Zeppelin hit the stage, the natives were truly restless. Some of the more charitable gave this deserving group a chance, but many didn't.
Unfortunately, these ne'er-do-wells missed a great performance. Disregard critical notices that have called the 2-year-old California band a "one-joke" or "one-note" band. Dread Zeppelin really is talented, especially Jah Paul Jo's Jimmy Page-like guitar peals.
Relying mostly on its stock in trade - reggae-fied covers of Led Zeppelin numbers - the members of DZ actually had some in the crowd eating of their hands, at least temporarily. In particular, Tortelvis' eerie lead vocals gave the band's cover of "Stairway to Heaven" a cheesy, if not amusing, air.
Tortelvis himself might have had something to do with some of the bad reactions, though. He persisted in an arrogant prima-donna swagger that some might have interpreted as serious.
It's kind of funny that the tour is being put on in memory of late reggae legend Robert Nesta Marley and with the idea of racial and other forms of tolerance. Oh well, it just goes to show that some people have no sense of humor - especially when it comes to music. Let's hope their politics are a little more open-minded.
Perhaps the reason that everyone was clamoring so hard against DZ is the fact that experienced and serious reggae band Steel Pulse was waiting in the wings. Those fans should note, though, that Steel Pulse actually asked Dread Zeppelin to perform with them.
Frankly, Steel Pulse's career has been in a downslide since the mid-'80s. Their once-fresh choppy licks, which echoed the reggae legends who came before them, have now been replaced by pop and soul sensibilities that are more akin to pseudo-reggae band UB40's sickeningly sweet confections.
CONCERT Steel Pulse's performance was OK - including the topper, a superb version of their "Life Without Music" - but something is just missing from their music nowadays. You might even say that they're getting so lifeless it's hard to find their pulse.
Maybe the night's biggest surprise (and perhaps its classiest performance) came from Provo's Swim Herschel Swim, the rockingest Brigham Young University students around.
The band's brisk ska mix seems to draw on sources like Madness's hopping two-tone stylings and American ska giants Bim Skala Bim's rock rumble. Even though the band was sacrificed early on to get the sound mixing correctly, Swim performed admirably and capably, including a swell cover of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" - which seems like it's been done to death already, but actually took on a new life.
The crowd actually warmed a little to Swim's all-too-brief set, which showed that they had a little compassion.