Celebrate Brooklyn officially kicked off last night with a rousing performance by reggae legend Jimmy Cliff. A huge crowd packed into the bandshell for the free show, which lasted over two hours and included three encores. Cliff sang and danced his way through his 50+ year career with renditions of "Wild World," "I Can See Clearly," "Many Rivers To Cross" and "Harder They Come." He also surprised the crowd with a cover of punk rock band Rancid's "Ruby Soho." Reactions to the show were overwhelmingly positive as you can see from the Tweets below:
Jimmy Cliff was just awesome yesterday night at Prospect Park, #Brooklyn ! Wonderful world, Beautiful people #JimmyCliff #Ilovnyc #reggae
— Laury Rs (@Lauryrs) June 6, 2012
Amazing set by the true Living Legend Jimmy Cliff at Prospect Park to open the CelebrateBrooklyn 2012 season.Lots of teary-eyed moments.
— Chef G.R.Calliste (@CucinaCalliste) June 6, 2012
what a masterful showman! my hats off to Jimmy Cliff at prospect park tonight- a most amazing show!!!! actually unforgettable!
— Larissa VelezJackson (@LarissaArtVelez) June 6, 2012
Jimmy Cliff just dropped some hot musical biscuits. Best @CelebrateBklyn show I've ever been to.
— Armin Rosen (@therealarosen) June 6, 2012
When words fail you, keep it short and sweet:
Jimmy cliff was fucking amazing #thehardertheycome
— Rob Romano (@robromanobitch) June 6, 2012
Here is Cliff performing "Many Rivers To Cross" last night:
If you missed Cliff's performance last night be sure to tune in to The Late Show with David Letterman tonight where he will be the show's musical guest. Celebrate Brooklyn continues through August with both free and ticketed shows from the likes of Wilco, Sigur Ross and Mission of Burma.
