Burning Spear
Electric Brixton, London
★★★☆☆

HE’S now 80, but Burning Spear (aka Winston Rodney) is still going strong on the live circuit, having put in an appearance on the pyramid stage at Glastonbury in June.

Age has not withered him, nor has it had a noticeable effect on the power or tone of his idiosyncratic voice.

Nonetheless, having been a fine, chiselled figure well into his 70s, he has at last succumbed to a paunch belly, and there’s clearly not the same elemental force of old, even though he belies his years every now and then with some intricate prancing to the band’s rhythms.

Reinvigorated after a period away from touring, Rodney seems to have developed a canny energy-saving strategy based around a bit of singing followed by some extended conga-playing at the back end of each song.

That means we get a bit too much of the latter and not quite enough of the former – in a set that lasts not much longer than an hour.

Nonetheless, no-one can claim to be short-changed, for this is the real Burning Spear, with all the real songs (including Jah No Dead and Marcus Garvey), still plying his trade with a large degree of spirit. If he saves his breath with plenty of rest at the congas, then at least that allows us to see him at something close to his best.

How long Rodney will be able to continue in the same vein is a moot point, but this London date, sandwiched in between gigs around continental Europe, seems to be proof that there’s plenty of life in the old rasta yet.

The venue was packed out with punters keen to get a glimpse of one of the greats of roots reggae — and not just with people old enough to have known him in his heyday.

The passage of time means that inevitably there won’t be too many more nights like these, so they were well advised to come along – and well rewarded for their commitment.

Burning Spear is on tour. For more information see: burningspearwebsite.com