The Congos review: Jamaican veterans bring the reggae vibes to former Cork church
The Congos performing at Live at St Lukes during the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival. Picture: Darragh Kane
What would the original congregation of St Luke’s Church have made of it all? A pair of dark-skinned men from the colonies jumping about where the altar once stood, paying homage to Jah Rastafari, and singing songs that reference Old Testament tales and something called ‘collie-weed’?
Perhaps the good Anglican folk who attended the 1879-built house of worship would actually have enjoyed The Congos. Their modern counterparts out for Saturday night of the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival certainly did.
Unfortunately, not all of the members of the Jamaican reggae group had made it to the venue. Cedric Myton, whose falsetto is such a key part of the trio’s classic songs, was taken ill during the previous night’s Dublin gig and couldn’t perform in Cork.
“The show must go on,” baritone Watty Burnett bravely declared. He split the extra vocal load with tenor Ashanti Roy Johnson. Despite a combined age of 159, the duo coped brilliantly, backed by a quality five-piece band.
Not surprisingly, much of the set was comprised of tunes from the 1977 record still regarded as one of the great reggae albums, made with the legendary Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry. (St Luke’s was also the venue for one of Perry’s final Irish gigs before his passing in 2021).
Plenty water has passed under Patrick’s Bridge since The Congos’ last appearance in Cork – at the Arcadia in 1981 – and, as well as joining the dots on Jamaica’s reggae history, tonight’s gig also had plenty representatives of the genre’s local story.
The impressive support act was a local female trio led by Fyah Red, and the audience included such scene stalwarts as at least one member of 1980s band Belsonic Sound, and the Passage West contingent who used to organise the popular reggae nights at Mojos’ pub on George’s Quay.
All likely enjoyed this old-school reunion. Spurred on by the admirable energy of Johnson and Burnett on stage, most of the audience took to their feet between the church pews. Special mention to the superb bass player who was given the space to occasionally take proceedings in a deep and dubby direction.
Inevitably, the biggest moment of the night came with The Congos’ most famous tune, giving the Cork audience a chance to exercise their own vocals. A mass singalong indeed.
