Words by LargeUp Crew—
The second annual Dub Champions Festival kicks off in NYC tonight and, needless to say, we are amped, with an empasis on amp. Yes, that was us who just bought the the Guitar Center out of earplugs, in preparation for this weekend’s events. Not only will Scientist be reconvening live on stage with Roots Radics and Johnny Osbourne for a live performance of 1981’s Scientist Rids the Curse of the Evil Vampires—a contender for greatest dub album of all time—but for the second year, the fest will host a live performance by our toppa top personal hero, Lee “Scratch” Perry.
If you’ve never caught a Scratch show before, you must. Perry might be 76 years old, but he’s shown no signs of slowing down as a performer, hitting the road as relentlessly as any act half his age, and putting on a show each night that’s just as bizarre and enigmatic as the last one. Tickets for Sunday night’s (9/23) 18-and-up show (with guests Dre Skull and Sinkane) at the Music Hall of Williamsburg are $25 and available here. We’ll see you there.
While making our plans for the show, we got into a little office debate. Unlike some icons, there is no one Lee Perry album that is generally accepted by a wide consensus as his beat. Sure there are couple frontrunners but it’s hard enough just deciding between Super Ape or Return of the Super Ape. With this in mind, we thought we’d put together a little poll and ask you to tell us your favorite Scratch album. Vote from the choices below, or click other and tell us in the comments which album you think is the Upsetter’s magnum opus.