Reggae lovers celebrate Bob Marley's legacy, music

While most of Chapel Hill was abuzz with excitement for the UNC vs. Duke game, local reggae-lovers gathered in Cat's Cradle — but certainly not for basketball. On Saturday, the lively, tucked away corner of Carrboro pulsed with reggae beats from performers Mickey Mills and Steel, Jamrock, Zion Project and DJ Ras J for the 25th Annual Bob Marley Bash. 

The annual event celebrates reggae superstar Bob Marley by creating space for people to honor his legacy and bask in his music. The event was more than just an auditory experience — it came to life with vibrant balloons and dazzling lights that bathed the venue in classic reggae colors: green, yellow, red and black.

Attendees were welcomed into the event even before stepping through the Cat's Cradle's double doors by the aroma of Jamaican food that wafted through the air. Once inside, people danced to the soulful rhythm of DJ Ras J's beats and lined up at the local vendors. 

Trivlie Ellis, a self proclaimed “love kind of girl,” attended the event as a longtime friend of Mickey and Malika Mills from the band Mickey Mills and Steel. 

“It moves your whole soul,” she said about the power of reggae music. “The beat of the music, it just moves you, there’s nothing else that I listen to that as soon as it comes up, I'm like, ‘Oh my God.’ It’s the collaboration of all of the instruments. It's the sound itself that just comes together and just makes me whole.”

Ellis in particular loves Bob Marley's “No Woman, No Cry.” 

“I'm gonna be on the floor tonight screaming and singing and crying, because that's just what I do,” she said.

Attendee Reshan Fernando is also drawn to reggae for its signature rhythm. Fernando fell in love with reggae at 13 when his brother brought a Peter Tosh tape from Dubai back to their home in Sri Lanka. Fernando visits reggae venues around the world and has made sure to attend the annual Bob Marley Bash for the last 6 years. 

By the time Mickey Mills and Steel took the stage at 9 p.m., the room was packed. The band delivered an uplifting set filled with beloved classics from Bob Marley & The Wailers discography, such as “Is This Love,” “Redemption Song,” “No Woman, No Cry” and “Three Little Birds.” The bassists' deep beat pulsed through the floor, Malika Mills tapped her tambourine against her thigh and the crowd swayed excitedly with arms raised, fully immersed in the music.

Powerful lyrics including the chorus of “Redemption Song” — written after Marley had been diagnosed with the cancer that would later take his life — rang out through the crowd: “Won't you help to sing / These songs of freedom? 'Cause all I ever have / Redemption songs." 

“Just about all his music was positive, dealing with righteousness, goodness, peace, love, happiness,” lead singer Mickey Mills said.

Throughout the band's celebratory set, Mickey Mills energetically pranced around the stage, rotating between the center mic and the steel drum. Once called “the fastest steel drum soloist on earth,” Mills lived up to the reputation as his hands danced effortlessly across its surface.

Many people — including Ellis — consider Marley to be a prophet of sorts; his music is centered on themes of freedom and sanctity.

“His music is futuristic, it's into what's going on now,” Malika Mills said. “The struggle is always the same, no matter what generation it is, because every generation has had some type of struggle.”

She said that she is drawn to reggae music and the culture surrounding it, as it helps her stay connected to her Nigerian roots.

“We should appreciate who we are and where our ancestors came from,” she said. “Because of them, that's who we are and where we are today, because of the struggles that they had in life, the sacrifices that they made. So, we should always honor them and appreciate them.”

@dthlifestyle | lifestyle@dailytarheel.com