Bob Marley’s family commemorates him in concert

Thirty years ago, the voice of the legendary reggae performer Bob Marley rang out over a crowd of his devotees for the last time in concert here in Pittsburgh at the Stanley Theatre, known today as the Benedum Center. Bob Marley Celebration — 30 Years Later

The Marley Family

Benedum Center

Today, 7 p.m.

412-456-6666

Tickets $38.75-52.57

Thirty years ago, the voice of the legendary reggae performer Bob Marley rang out over a crowd of his devotees for the last time in concert here in Pittsburgh at the Stanley Theatre, known today as the Benedum Center.

Today, on Sept. 23 — the anniversary of Marley’s final performance — his family will take to the Benedum Center stage to revive his voice, celebrate his legacy and support his lifelong mission — peaceful and conscientious living for all mankind.

Ed Traversari, producer of the upcoming show, is experiencing a sort of déjà vu in preparing for the celebration — he was also a producer of Bob Marley’s final performance.

“It’s been a passion of some of us who were at that show in 1980 to see a show like this come to Pittsburgh to celebrate Bob Marley. Not a lot of people know that his last performance took place in Pittsburgh,” Traversari said.

He said producers started tossing around the idea of a tribute show about 10 years after the 1980 performance.

“We thought about it for a while and were considering doing it around the 25-year mark,” he said.

But planning the show turned out to be quite a bit of work and they needed more time to “pull all the pieces together,” Traversari said.

Finally, after 30 years, the Marley family will join together to commemorate their relative and show Pittsburgh how much his music can still move a room. Family members thus far confirmed to be taking part in the performance include his daughter, Cedella, along with her group The Marley Girls; his sons, Stephen, Julian, Ky-Mani and Damian “Junior Gong;” and his widow, Rita, the “Queen Mother.” Alongside Rita will be former I-Threes member Marcia Griffiths.

Rita Marley will travel all the way from her home in Ghana to be a part of the tribute.

The set list is the exact one played by Bob Marley himself at his last performance and includes such classic hits as “Natural Mystic,” “Exodus,” “Jamming” and “Is This Love?”

All of the show’s proceeds will go to the Marley Family’s new nonprofit organization, 1Love. Its website, www.1love.com, describes the movement as “a global call to arms dedicated to giving back through charities that empower individuals and groups to take action for sustainable and responsible living.”

On the 1Love site, Cedella Marley writes about the inspiration her father’s life provides to her. “Still to this day, our father’s ‘Tuff Gong’ spirit has never backed down in his fight to end corporate and political greed, abolish prejudice and racism, and spread peace, harmony and equality throughout our planet. In fact, he always says, ‘the bad guys never take a day off, why should I?’”

Donna Mastropasqua, executive director of 1Love.org — established this past June — said that the upcoming concert is the very first effort of the new organization, which is set to be formally launched this fall.

“1Love basically was created to further Bob Marley’s vision on how to make the world a better place,” Mastropasqua said. “We’ve come up with three pillars that are the areas in which we look for charities to help out through money, resources, volunteers — any way we can in the name of Bob Marley’s vision.”

These pillars are youth, planet and peace. Some of the charities that 1Love will assist include the African Leadership Academy, an organization dedicated to the encouragement of young leaders in Africa, and Water.org, a nonprofit committed to supplying safe, fresh drinking water to developing nations.

As the excitement builds, locals are looking forward to the concert and appreciating the legacy that Bob Marley left behind.

Pittsburgh musician and Bob Marley fan Scott Weishorn said, “For Bob Marley coming from a place that is so poor and filled with crime … to send a message that is so positive and inspiring is truly a gift. From a musician’s perspective, for such a huge event to happen in Pittsburgh is very historic and I can’t wait to hear what the Marley family has in store.”