MIDAS & THE BRIDGE; in concert in the Coliseum, Utah State Fairpark; Saturday,April 4; one show only.Whether hemp will save the world was of little concern to the audience in the half-full Coliseum, because the spectators really came only to have a good time moving their bodies to some high energy, soul-shaking reggae music.
First, however, the flower children of the 1990s who came to see Midas & The Bridge had to suffer through a two-hour film presentation, then witnessed a performance that could have been dubbed, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club meets the Blues Brothers."
But it's best to look at one thing at a time. Due to the peaceful nature of the event - a fund-raiser for community radio station KRCL 91 and some obscure senatorial candidate - passing the security guards and entering the Coliseum went smoothly.
After reading a gigantic banner and some propaganda suggesting the free growth of hemp to boost the economy and reinstate the Earth's ecological balance, most people were excited when the show began at 7:30 p.m. as planned.
To make the observation on the film presentation short: The Bob Marley tribute, narrated by Reggae authority Roger Steffens who appeared in person, was too long for most people who had to sit through it.
Alas, when Provo-based Swim Herschel Swim (SHS) took the stage, went drastically uphill.
Half of the band's seven members were dressed in school band uniforms, looking an awful lot like some guys from Liverpool who did something similar about two decades ago.
Herschel's lead singer, on the other hand, had an interesting resemblance to one of the Blues Brothers, and so did most of the movements of any one of the band's members during the show.
Nonetheless, musically speaking, SHS members were undeniably themselves, featuring a strong three-piece horn section and a solid bass/drums/keyboard structure, making their reggae-rock-blues-punk-pop variety of music very danceable.
This was greatly appreciated by the crowd who, due to a relatively poorly adjusted sound system, couldn't understand much of the lyrics anyway.
Considering all of the preceding trials, the appearance of Midas & The Bridge could have been compared with the coming of Haile Selassie, the divine savior of the Jamaican Rastafaris.
Don't accuse me of blasphemy yet, but Ras Midas, the vocalist who recorded in English, French, Spanish and even Swahili, and who fuses reggae with rock, jazz and pop elements, brought to the Coliseum a fresh and lively spirit that fulfilled a dire need after 31/2 hours of teasing.
Anticipating his new release "any month now," Midas introduced, among others, "Wake Up Everybody," a pop-influenced song that asks politicians, teachers, preachers and pushers to shape up and make this world the happening place.
"This is a music of liberation and the revolution of love," Midas told the crowd. Most likely they agreed, especially since The Bridge - James Schultheis, lead guitar; Michael George, bass; John Nevin, keyboards; Bruce Benjamin, drums; and Robert Kelshall, rhythm guitar - connected Midas with the spirit of his own music and the audience's emotions.