Date: Thursday, October 13th, 2011
Line up: Tribal Seeds & E.N Young
Location: The Marquee Theatre. Tempe, AZ
The relentless Roots Rock Reggae artists Tribal Seeds began their fall tour with E.N. Young in the state of Arizona. After opening at The Rock in Tucson the night before, the act hit the road for another college town, stopping at The Marquee Theatre in Tempe.
Fans that came out on a weekday night walked into an intimate environment, as the lights were turned down low and the vibes from the stage were nice and slow. Tribal Seeds is the epitome of the word family or a tribe. With brothers forming the band in early 2005 as teenagers and gathering local San Diego and Calexico musicians, their musical family bloomed.
With E.N. Young on the fall tour after producing Tribal Seeds’ summer release Soundwaves, the brotherhood environment kicked off with the gentle sounds of Young’s melodica. With only a drummer backing his vocals and melodica, Young danced around stage towards his distortion pedals to dub-in the bass lines and guitar riffs. It was entertaining to witness and a pleasure to hear 
from an opening performance.
Young was enthused following his set and was gracious in thanking Tribal Seeds, intensifying the crowd’s energy for the main act to follow.
As the lights brightened on stage, Steven Jacobo, (lead singer and guitarist for Tribal Seeds) asked the crowd one simple question before their set began, “Are you ready for some reggae?” With an emphatic response, the band jumped into an extended instrumental opening to “Soundwaves”. On the studio album, Eric Rachmany of Rebelution is featured, but Steven Jacobo vocalized the cameo with his own spice for the live audience. The lyrics, those crowds across the country sing along to, makes the performers smile, when a talented singer/songwriter adds a new twist to a song, it makes the fans at live performances blush. It’s what makes concerts so special at each venue.
Tribal Seeds has proved they are not just a great live band; they are an amazing touring act that is also polished in the studio. During their set, each song transitioned into another, after another, without hesitation or dropping the beat. Carlos Verdugo (drums) and Victor Navarro (bass) kept the crowd dancing all night to “Love Psalm,” “Warning,” and crowd pleaser “Dark Angel”.
With the crowd in full voice at this point, it was only appropriate to unleash the track “Vampire,” with E.N. Young making another appearance.
The sweet melodies of classic tracks “Beautiful Mysterious,” “Come Around,” and “Dark Angel,” were blanketed by new additions “Right On Time“ and “In Your Eyes” to close out their set. The night was still young and Tribal Seeds still had plenty of appreciation left to show. Not only did the fans get a special treat when Tribal Seeds returned to the stage, the great Bob Marley received one, too. Bringing fans inside “The Garden” to open, the harmony quickly shifted to Marley’s “Could You Be Loved”.
Fans wanted a reggae party, and a reggae party it was.
– Article & Photos by: Kris Siuta
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