Mel Cooke, Freelance Writer

Rootz Underground - File

Before the band took the stand at the Shell Bandstand, Hope Gardens, on Saturday night, in a video clip shown on huge screen, a band member said "our live show is our signature".

So it was no surprise, then, that the launch of their debut album, Movement was in essence a near hour-and-a-half high-energy concert before a fair-sized and largely enthusiastic audience.

After footage that showed the band in the studio, on tour in the US, doing performances and in music videos, Rootz Under-ground's members, Charles Lazarus (lead guitar), Colin Young (bass), Jeffrey Moss-Solomon (rhythm guitar/vocals), Leon Alexander Campbell Jr. (drums) and Paul 'Scubi' Smith (keyboards/organs/vocals) took up their positions.

Then there were squeals as Stephen Newland, known for his high-energy delivery, filled with leaps and flashing locks, took front and centrestage and placed the microphone in his hand on the stand provided.

It was the beginning of near non-stop music, which rocked the audience, beginning with Time is an Illusion, the stand being dispensed with quickly enough as Newland started his prowl to different sides of the stage. There was a smooth transition between songs, Victims of the System coming in short order.

Fade Away was the first of two cover versions and was delivered in excellent fashion before Slumberland a love song on which Smith sang lead. It was then that their teamwork took front and centrestage, as Smith, Newland and Moss-Solomon high-stepped and sang in unison on a mix from the rest of the band. They sang "one hundred gal a kick off me door ... " and the squeals at the end indicated that it was true.

They went slow on Rain before introducing a three-man horn section, Newland saying that Wayne Armond and Dean Fraser were supposed to be there but had to play other gigs that night. The trumpeter twirled his instrument against the background of a field of green on the large screen. Herb Field duly followed, the horn section a superb addition.

And when they hit the dub sections, the reverb, keyboards, horns, drum and bass were an excellent combination, Newland well into his trademark leaps.

Riverstone came before a good take on Midnight Ravers, Newland's voice similar to Marley's in its semi-plaintive rasp. Before In the Jungle he said "I don't know if you realise it, over that fence are some beautiful animals of creation at the Hope Zoo. Over this side of the fence are some beautiful creatures of creation, namely you".

All left, but seeing that the instruments were left in place very predictably returned for Corners of My Mind, Newland, by now his outer shirt off and in a vest, going incredibly high in the final series of leaps.

However, at points there was a stilted, pre-planned quality to the band's high-energy presentation.

Not that the enthusiastic audience minded. As Wayne Armond, producer of Movement, who featured in the pre-concert video clip, said, "I woulda put my money on Rootz Underground still. Fi real".