The legendary reggae band Misty In Roots are celebrating their 50th anniversary with a series of intimate live shows organised by London International Ska Festival Presents, where they will be calling in at Bristol, Reading, London and finally Brighton. The Brighton concert will be taking place at the popular Concorde 2 on Thursday 30th October and this will also feature Roots Garden Sound System, as well as UK reggae champions Pama International who will be performing the Trojan Songbook. Tickets for this Brighton concert, as well as the other three dates, are now on sale and are available for purchase HERE.
In addition to this Misty In Roots will be reissuing their classic debut album –‘Live at the Counter Eurovision 79’ which contains ‘Man Kind’ (4:15), ‘Ghetto In The City’ (6:17), ‘How Long Jah!’ (5:41), ‘Oh! Wicked Man!’ (4:06), ‘Judas Iscariote’ (3:32), ‘See Them Ah Come’ (5:40), and ‘Sodome And Gomorra’ (6:29). This record was championed by BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel, and helped to bring roots reggae to a white audience. Along with Steel Pulse, Aswad, Matumbi, and Black Slate, Misty In Roots were one of the most popular British reggae bands of the late 1970s.
Misty In Roots originally formed in 1975 to back Trojan Records star – Nicky Thomas (famed for his Love of The Common People Top 10 single). It wasn’t long however that Misty In Roots started to develop their iconic roots reggae sound and come 1979, the band released their debut album – ‘Live at the Counter Eurovision’, which is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest live albums recorded.
A staggering 9 John Peel BBC Radio One sessions, 4 studio albums and international touring followed, truly establishing Misty In Roots as one of the world’s leading reggae bands. Their popularity was further broadened by their vital involvement in the Rock Against Racism movement, where they regularly gigged alongside the likes of; Elvis Costello, The Specials, Tom Robinson, The Ruts (whose debut single Misty funded), Steep Pulse, and The Aupairs.
Following their debut, Misty In Roots released four studio albums through the 1980’s. The band had two BBC Radio 1 In Concert appearances in 1983 and 1985. They performed live in Brighton on a few occasions back in the day, where they played the Top Rank Suite on 2nd October 1981, 24th September 1982, 1st April 1987 and 1st November 1989. They have also played at Brighton Polytechnic on 30th September 1984, as well as rockin’ on up for the Essential Festival at Stanmer Park on 25th May 1997; and also the Concorde 2 on 5th July 2013. Misty In Roots were invited to play in Zimbabwe in 1982 in recognition of their support for the independence movement and were the first reggae band to tour South Africa, Poland, and Russia. After a break from recording in the next decade, the band returned with a new mini-album ‘Roots Controller’ in 2002.
As stated above, support on the tour comes from one of UK’s leading reggae bands – Pama International, who in their 24 year history have released 15 albums, featured members of; Madness, The Specials, Steel Pulse, The Style Council, Galliano, and The Selecter in their line up, collaborate with plus reggae legends; Ken Boothe, Rico, Dave & Ansell Collins, Derrick Morgan, Dawn Penn, Dennis Alcapone, AJ Franklin (Chosen Few), Mad Professor, plus Billy Bragg, Wrongtom, Roger Rivas (Aggrolites) and in 2006 became the first new band in sign to Trojan Records in 30 years!
On the airwaves they have recorded 5 BBC Radio sessions and been championed by Steve Lamacq, Craig Charles, David Rodigan, Huey Morgan, Janice Long, Don Letts, Chris Hawkins, Robert Elms, John Kennedy (xfm) and Radio Love (France) to name but few. Live they have played countless major festivals, hosting stages at Glastonbury, Bestival and Beautiful Days, and shared stages with; Toots & The Maytals, The Specials, Madness, Georgie Fame, The Skatalites, Jimmy Cliff, Prince Buster, Lee Perry, and Third World. Pama Int’l will be showcasing tracks from their new album.
