Posted on 04/08/2008
Steel Pulse, long stalwarts in the ever-buzzing reggae scene, are depicted in true clarity in Door of No Return, a concert documentary that follows the pioneering British band around as they tour the African Continent. The personnel of the band changed through the years, but by the time of these late-nineties concerts there was still the main trio of vocalist/guitarist David Hinds, drummer Steve "Grizzly" Nisbett, and keyboardist/vocalist Selwyn "Bumbo" Brown. More than a collection of performances, the documentary shows the interplay between the band, with newer musicians (lead guitarist Clifford Puses; keyboardist Sidney Mills) and the back-up singers, and allows them to ruminate about touring and their fans, the roles in the band (Hinds is described as the head of the songs, while Selwyn the 'Prime Minister'), and the impact of being in Africa -at a Senegal slavery post, Clifford becomes emotional, while the drummer stays straight faced, explaining that he's cried all through his life from oppression, and now he has no time for tears.

The performances show a hard working band drawing on a vast three decades of skills that produced early-eighties classics like Tribute to the Martyrs through to the solid 1997s Rage and Fury, and what we see is a heavy rhythm section, strong and ambling guitars, with keyboards and synthesizers helping to keep the sound current.  At times the modern arrangements dull the older songs (the "Handsworth Revolution" here can't match up to the album version), but for the most part the songs are performed with the assuredness that comes from keeping up with the other reggae veterans, namely Aswad and Inner Circle.

 

At one point the camera shows Hinds in the studio working on a new song, his agile voice clearer now than the slight rasp he gives it on stage.  As he stops and starts, glancing at the lyric sheet, one notices that he's singing about his experiences in Senegal and the song turns out to be "Door of No Return", ending up on their next album five years later, a precious look at a song being molded and formed on camera.  The band, weathered and valiant, are inspired from their adventures and work, and long-time fans should find it interesting to see a band finding more reasons to move forward.

 

- Christopher White