Grammy Award winning British reggae legends, Steel Pulse played a special show at the Fonda Theater in Los Angeles last week. The “Celebration of Life Concert” was a memorial and tribute to their late drummer, Steve “Grizzly” Nisbett.
Steve came from a large family, and was born and raised in the Caribbean. At the age of 9 his family moved to Birmingham, England where he started playing drums and percussion as a teenager. He joined Steel Pulse in 1977, right before the release of their debut album, Handsworth Revolution. Surprisingly, he had minimal experience playing reggae before joining the band, however he remained their primary drummer until 2001 when he was forced to retire due to health reasons. He passed away in the beginning of 2018 at the age of 69.
The event was hosted by producer Native Wayne (Wayne Jobson), and co-hosted by tour manager and concert marketing agent, Anjali Raval. Steel Pulse performed the entirety of Handsworth Revolution as well as several others classics from their vast catalog. Toward the end of the show, Steve’s brother took a moment to appear on stage and delivered a thoughtful and emotional tribute. He also announced that the proceeds from the evening were to be donated to a sickle-cell anemia charity.
The night was jam-packed with special guests. The band invited several well-known and respected guest drummers to sit in for one song each. They also joined the band on stage for the grand finale for the evening.
Guest drummers included:
Adrian Young / Dreamcar, No Doubt
Stephen Perkins / Jane’s Addiction
Yesod Williams / Pepper
Fish / Fishbone
Rock Deadrick / Ziggy Marley, Joe Walsh, Tracey Chapman, Ben Harper
Courtney Panton, Jr. / New Kingston
Rome / Common Kings
Jeff Kollman / Chad Smith’s Bombastic Meatbats, Alan Parsons Project, Glenn Hughes
Blake Colie / The Lions
Oliver Charles / Ben Harper, Gogol Bordello
Mario Calire / Formerly The Wall Flowers, Ozomatli
Jamey “Zeb” Dekofsky / Tribal Seeds
