MUSIC: Yellowman takes over Wall Street at FMF

(Credit: Joel Pape)

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’d know that the Florida Music Festival (FMF) was this past weekend in Downtown Orlando. The festival went on for four days and featured over 250 bands. Yellowman was Saturday’s headliner, and as a long time fan, this was one show I wasn’t going to miss.

Yellowman has been a reggae musician since 1974. Born poor and homeless as a youth in Kingston, Jamaica he is a classic story of rags to riches. If you’ve never seen Yellowman before, you might be a bit shocked at his appearance. Born as an albino, he literally has a yellow skin tone, hence his stage name. He battled jaw cancer in the 1980’s and was given only six months to live, but his life was saved after a successful surgery (which involved removing part of his jaw). So needless to say he doesn’t look like your average Jamaican, but he rocks with the best of them.

His performances are always packed with energy, positive vibes and good people. He’s 53 years old but you’d think he’s 30 years younger if you saw him dancing around on (and sometimes even off) stage. Saturday’s performance was certainly no exception.

Yellowman took the main stage at Wall Street Plaza to a cheering crowd around midnight. He performed classic hits like “Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt” and “Yellow Like Cheese” with amazing energy that really got the crowd moving. I’ve seen him perform at least ten times since I was a teenager, but my friends and I agreed that this was probably the best performance we’ve seen him give. After the show came to an end, I checked the time and it was 1:45 in the morning. He put on a solid, nonstop set that lasted over an hour and a half.

This year’s FMF was without a doubt the best as far as I’m concerned and I’m already looking forward to next year.

(Note - we unfortunately did not have a photographer at this concert. However, I have included a photo my brother took from another Yellowman show in Sebastian, FL several years ago.)