Barrington Levy/Brandon Rootz @ Sony Hall, New York, NY 8/15/25

 


Bill: Barrington Levy/Brandon Rootz

Venue: Sony Hall, 235 W 46 St., New York, NY

Date: 8/15/25

Ticket: $40 (had a free +1)

9:15 Barrington Levy



Active: 1976 (Clarendon, Jamaica)

Latest Release: "Money Is The Drug" (Black Roses, 2023) "Virus" (Barrington Levy, 2018), Acousticalevy (Doctor Dread Presents/Heartbeat, 2015)

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8:15 Brandon Rootz



Active: 2017 (Kingston, Jamaica via California)

Latest Release: "Cruising Girl" (King Jammy, 2025)

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Barrington Levy is one of those great Reggae names I've somehow didn't know much of over all these years.  I remember hearing of him in the 80's and thought his name was pronounced Lev-ee.  Then I heard a Jamaican DJ pronounced it Lee-vee with sound convincing authority that from that day forward I never mispronounced Barrington's last name.

So all these years later my friend had an extra ticket and invited me along to Barrington's show at Sony Hall.  With a 6pm door, it looking like the show was going to start at 8pm start, but after 15 minutes went by, acoustic opener Brandon Rootz came out.  He is touring with Levy but he wasn't listed on the bill.  This makes me wonder if he bought onto the tour.  It seems like he came from California and went to Jamaica to kickstart his music career and established himself there as a composer working with Buju Banton and producer King Jammys.

Barrington went on about 9:30. Even an artist of his stature could not escape traffic or get parking in Times Square on a Friday summer night where Sony Hall is smack dab in the middle of.  Once he kicked into "Murderer" everything was all good for 2 hours or so.  Hot August night and minimal AC?  Barrington will demand energy all night from the audience.  The James Brown showmanship influence was clear all the way to his biggest hit: the 1985 song "Here I Come."   That 1-2/1-2-3 relentlessness is undeniable.  You can stretch that out into infinity and nobody would tire of it.  Clearly Barrington is a master frontman with a band that seems very pro.  His career is coming close to the 50th year, but since Barrington started very young, he doesn't seem that old.  He could easily be performing another 20+ years.










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