Bob Marley’s first UK gig attendee remembers Bexhill show

Long before Bob Marley became a global icon of reggae and resistance, he stepped on to a modest stage in a quiet seaside town in East Sussex.

On 16 July 1972, the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill hosted what would become a landmark moment in music history – what is believed to be the Jamaican’s first ever UK performance.

The event was a charity concert organised by Bexhill Lions Club to raise funds for Glyne Gap School.

Bob Marley and The Wailers had come to the UK as the support act and backing band for reggae singer Johnny Nash.

Andy Hannah was 15 in 1972 and attended the gig in Bexhill.

He said: “It was mobbed. Everybody was so excited.

“I don’t think anyone realised what an iconic moment it would be.”

Marley was not well known in 1972.

Mr Hannah said: “The reaction was a bit muted, I guess. Not many people had heard of him. I was there for Johnny Nash.

“But what I can remember is what a fantastic voice Bob Marley had.”

Marley performed to an audience of about 1,000 people on the day.

Naomi Scully, events manager at the De La Warr Pavilion, said: “It must have felt so exciting for him to be in this space.

“It was his first international tour.

‘He must have really felt he was at the start of something.”

The performance marked the beginning of Marley’s deep connection with Britain. Though he had already spent years recording in Jamaica, 1972 was a turning point.

“His early UK performances, including this show in Bexhill, helped introduce reggae to a British audience and would have inspired a generation of black British youth,” Ms Scully added.

“His music had a real message of unity and resistance and that would have really resonated at that time in the 1970s.”