The Wailers plan full performance of 'Exodus' at DuPage Co. Fair

Posted July 21, 2009 11:00 pm

By Christy Gutowski Daily Herald Staff

The Wailers, Bob Marley's legendary reggae band, will take center stage at 8 p.m. Thursday at the DuPage County Fair in Wheaton.

The show - free with admission to the fairgrounds - will feature a full performance of the 1977 Bob Marley & The Wailers album, "Exodus," named "Album of the Century" in 1998 by Time magazine.

The group is led by bassist and musical director Aston "Family Man" Barrett, the sole surviving original member. Barrett took a break while playing in Spain last week to tell the Daily Herald what the DuPage audience can expect:

Q. Tell us about your tour. How many countries are you visiting?

A. The shows in Europe have been great. We are now in Spain and the schedule is grueling. Right now we have one hour to shower and pack and get in a van and drive for six more hours to fly to Ibiza and then get on another van and drive to a ferry to another island, then sound check, then show, then back on two little boats to catch the first flight.

We are on tour in the U.S. until August, then we hit the UK, Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, South America, then back to America in October.

Our favorite place to play is actually New Zealand because we like the vibes and the roots of the people there.

Q. What's the thinking behind playing the whole "Exodus" record on stage again?

A. We were in London and we were talking about (the record company) Island's 50th anniversary, and all the attention "Exodus" has had over the years - it has all the hits, and has been named "Album of the Century." It felt like the time was right.

"Exodus" stands out because it's the movement of jah people. This was also the album which we recorded in London at the new Island Studios with Bob (Marley) after his assassination attempt in Jamaica when we were ambushed in the middle of the night. We were going to play the Smile Jamaica concert in Jamaica.

Today, we keep the spirit of Bob alive through the reggae music, and we all work at it. We're just ordinary people who do extraordinary work, and we do it by working and living together. Thy will must be done by all means, no matter the crisis.

Q. What's the highlight of your show?

A. "One Love," "Jamming," "So Much Things To Say," "Waiting in Vain" - all the songs are favorites.

Q. Are you promoting any new music?

A. We are recording tracks for a new album. We found some of my brother Carlton's drum tracks, which are on a 2-inch tape and we are going to be using them as part of the rhythm section for some of the new songs.

Q. What can you tell us about the charity you support as part of your tour proceeds?

A. I started the charity with The Wailers together with the United Nations World Food Program. I was inspired to do something about all the waste at shows and the amount of food that gets squandered, probably around 80 percent.

So I thought we can do something and feed other people with this. The money that was paid for our food at shows now goes to our "I Went Hungry" charity.

There are so many people dying each day of hunger and hunger-related issues and a large percentage of that is children. It only costs 25 cents to feed a kid a meal so we've told the promoters, "instead of giving us three options for dinner, give us one and use the money to donate to the World Food Program."

Another good vibe is we have wristbands that say "I WENT HUNGRY" and on them is listed the Web site where people can donate. We sell the wristbands for $2 and if each person bought one of these and there are 7,000 of us at the fair, we can save a lot of people a day.

It's all about making people happy and taking them away from their worries and problems. I think we have fed around 150,000 people in the last few months.

You can visit www.iwenthungry.org for more information.

Q. Anything you'd like to say to your fans?

A. It's all about the roots. You have to have the roots. Without the roots, there aren't any leaves and branches.

The Wailers will perform their 1977 album, "Exodus," when they perform Thursday at the DuPage County Fair in Wheaton. The album, recorded by Bob Marley & The Wailers, was named Album of the Century by Time magazine in 1998.

If you go What: The Wailers perform in concert When: 8 p.m. Thursday Where: DuPage County Fairgrounds, 2015 W. Manchester Road, Wheaton Cost: Free with fair admission Info: (630) 668-6636 or <a href="http://www.dupagecountyfair.org" target="new">www.dupagecountyfair.org</a>

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