Gregory Isaacs returns to San Diego. Isaacs performed for a meager thirty-eight minutes in front of an almost sold out crowd last year, due to being ill. He played at Sound Wave Thursday night with another show scheduled for tonight.
Hailing from Kingston, Jamaica, Isaacs was a promising reggae artist in the early 80s, but his career curtailed due to the continued use of drugs and repeated jail sentences. Showing resilience, Isaacs reinvented himself and has since become a reggae legend.
No doubt he will perform his major hit, “Night Nurse,” the title track of the 1982 album, is a sexual lyrical invitation to please him in the chorus verse, Tell her it's a case of emergency / There's a patient by the name of Gregory/ Night nurse /Only you can quench my sad thirst, dubbing him the "Lonely Lover."
A culture reggae artist, Isaacs has many songs in the lovers rock and dancehall reggae genres. Always identified with his smooth, soulful voice and wearing a tipped, brimmed hat, Isaacs' music has reached the success level with the likes of Dennis Brown and Peter Tosh.
Isaacs became ill and canceled the rest of his U.S. tour last year. Diana Martinez, former talent buyer at the Wave House said, “He [Gregory] has been sick and was in a coma resulting from a toe infection.” Isaacs was on stage for a short time and as he was leaving the stage, his emcee told the fans, “Mr. Isaacs has been very sick and just recently was in a coma.”
Isaacs is in good health now and no doubt will make up for last year and then some. Tribe of Kings Sound System, will play early warm-ups and get the vibes going at 8 p.m, playing roots, culture and dancehall reggae tunes. The Homegrown band will open for Gregory, around 9 p.m.. Doors at 8 p.m. and tickets are $32 for Friday's show and can be purchased here.
