Umphrey’s McGee’s Brendan Bayliss Plays Reggae Live Set

Brendan Bayliss of Umphrey’s McGee offered up an entire reggae set for his Friday night livestream. The set saw tunes from Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and their band The Wailers, whose music is a civil rights soundtrack and was integral in the emancipation of African nations from European colonialism.

Brendan began the stream by remarking that he considered not playing out of respect for the movement for racial justice and equality. But he was spurred on by friends who reminded him that “music is a powerful thing that can not only be a temporary escape but can also bring people together,” he related. Bayliss wouldn’t say much after that but instead poured his heart and soul into the music, especially vocally. The UM guitarist kicked off his reggae set with Peter Tosh’s “Equal Rights” which led into a tune from Tosh’s Wailers band mate Bob Marley, “Time Will Tell” which in turn led into The Wailers’ “Keep On Moving.”

Brendan kept moving with two Tosh-penned Wailers songs in “Stop That Train” and “You Can’t Blame The Youth.” Next up, Bayliss played the Leon Cogill/Carlton Barrett (Wailers drummer) co-write, “Them Belly Full (But We Hungry),” included on Bob Marley And The Wailers’ 1974 album Natty Dread. Brendan then ran through a pair of Marley classics with “Natural Mystic” and “Burnin’ And Lootin” followed by the gospel “This Train.”

The Marley-penned Soul Rebels (Wailers, 1970) deep cut “Corner Store” came next ahead of another deep track “High Tide Or Low Tide” followed by more vintage Marley in “Coming In From The Cold” and “Trenchtown Rock.” Bayliss would close out the set with The Wailers’ “Rastaman Chant” an arrangement of a traditional by Marley, Tosh and Bunny Wailer that carries the refrain “Babylon, you throne gone down, gone down/Babylon, you throne gone down.”

Watch Brendan Bayliss’ entire reggae livestream set below:

Setlist via Scott Marks Twitter

Set: Equal Rights > Time Will Tell > Keep On Moving > Stop That Train, You Can’t Blame The Youth, Them Belly Full (But We Hungry), Natural Mystic > Burnin’ And Lootin’, This Train > Corner Store, High Tide Or Low Tide, Coming In From The Cold, Trenchtown Rock, Rastaman Chant