Toppa Top 10: Ten Classic Peter Tosh Performances

Words by Midnight Raver

Had he lived, Peter Tosh would have been 71 years old today. To commemorate this most notable date in reggae history, Midnight Raver brings us a list of Tosh’s Top Ten Live Performances. Special thanks to Roger Steffens and Dermot Hussey, whose input we greatly appreciate.

10. Beacon Theater, NYC, October 16th, 1976

This was Tosh’s first public performance in NYC, a place he would both come to love and hate, referring to it as “New York Shitty.”

9.  Rainbow Theater, London, June 30th, 1981

A scorching set from Tosh and Word, Sound and Power, this was Sly & Robbie’s final performance with the Bush Doctor (although they appeared together onstage during Bunny Wailer’s set at the Youth Consciousness Festival in 1982). Tosh previously played the same venue in ’79; see a clip of him performing “Burial” at that show below.

8.  Roxy Theater, Los Angeles, February 5th, 1979

Tosh was beloved by audiences in LA (he made several stops at The Roxy in the late ’70s and early ’80s; here’s a clip of the rehearsal from his ’81 show there), treating them to a blazing set of fourteen tunes including “Burial,” “Steppin’ Razor,” “Soon Come, and “Legalize It.”

7.  Montreux 1979, Montreux, Switzerland, July 16th, 1979

For the first time, the Montreux Jazz Festival dedicated a whole night to reggae. The show featured Dennis Brown, Steel Pulse and Peter Tosh, who gave a most memorable performance.

6.  Sanders Theater, Cambridge, Mass., October 24th, 1976

This performance from Tosh’s very first US solo tour finds him in Yard—Harvard Yard that is. The show at Harvard’s Sanders Theater opens with the most astounding performance of “Igziabeher” featuring a five-plus minute instrumental intro. The performance was captured on audio, and released as Peter Tosh Live & Dangerous in Boston.

5.  Youth Consciousness Festival, Kingston, Jamaica, December 25th, 1982

Though Peter played his own set at this festival, the most notable moment occurs when he and Jimmy Cliff take the stage at sunrise during Bunny Wailer’s historic, four-plus hour set.

4.  Jamaica World Music Festival, Montego Bay, Jamaica, November 25th, 1982
Peter Tosh’s performance at the Jamaica World Music Festival (which also featured the only Jamaican performances by a number of iconic international acts including the Grateful Dead and Rick James) in 1982 is one of his finest performances and includes several legendary livitribes during which Tosh levels the spoken word against the shitstem.

3. Wonder Dream Concert, Kingston, Jamaica, October 4th, 1975

Though billed as a Wailers reunion show with Stevie Wonder, each Wailer takes the stage and plays their own set of solo material. Peter Tosh performs “Mark of the Beast,” “Can’t Blame The Youth,” and wows the audience with his first live performance of “Legalize It.”

2.  One Love Peace Concert, Kingston, Jamaica, April 22, 1978

An historic Tosh performance where he scolds the Jamaican government and police during his set.

1.  Pulse Starjam Reggae Superjam Festival, Kingston, Jamaica
December 30th, 1983

Part of a three-night concert series at Jamaica’s National Stadium which also featured Gregory Isaacs, Beres Hammond and Dennis Brown, this is generally regarded as Peter Tosh’s final live performance. As Roger Steffens wrote, “Peter uses the M-16 rifle-guitar, spraying the crowd while Santa Davis beats out machine-gun rat-a-tats, eerily invoking their shootings four years later.” Watch a clip of Tosh performing “You Can’t Blame the Youth” below, and listen to the full audio here.

Swaziland, South Africa, 1983

Tosh played for a crowd of more than 25,000 in Swaziland for two nights in a row during December 1983, in what were his first live performances on the content of Africa. Steel Pulse opened the show, documented in this German news footage: