It’s not just the Wailers are synonymous with the popularization of reggae music; it is more profound than that. No single ensemble has ever been quite so singularly representative of its genre and responsible for its global spread. The Wailers – Bunny, Bob, Peter and the rest – are reggae music to most people, plain and simple. Paradoxically, their wildfire international fame and ironclad association with the music of Jamaica set the stage for the breakout of countless other reggae, ska and rocksteady artists over the decades.
The Wailers that will appear at Colony in Woodstock on Sunday, October 28 are no Menudo – no distant descendants of the founders, with maybe “the original gear,” as the joke goes. These Wailers are led by famed bassist and founder Aston “Familyman” Barrett, joined by fellow original Wailers Junior Marvin and Donald Kinsey.
Upstate Reggae continues its legacy of booking outsize names (the biggest in the field, really) in the small and intimate venues of Woodstock. Freddy Larrosa opens the show. Ticket prices range from $35 to $60.
The Wailers, Sunday, Oct. 28, 8 p.m., $35-$60, Colony, 22 Rock City Road, Woodstock, (845) 657 4047, www.colonywoodstock.com