Rebelution's 2021 St. Augustine concert recorded for reggae band's latest live album

The cameras probably should have been a dead giveaway.

Rebelution, one of the biggest-selling reggae bands in the world, played the St. Augustine Amphitheatre in September 2021 and recorded the show for a live album and DVD, "Live in St. Augustine."

They didn't tell the audience they were recording the show, but most fans probably figured it out anyway, said Marley D. Williams, the band's bass player. There were cameras and booms all over the venue for the show.

Dave Matthews, Backstreet Boys, Tedeschi Trucks and more: 12 summer concerts to look forward to in Jacksonville

Live in St. Augustine: 5 must-see shows in June at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre, including Sheryl Crow

"I think it's better to have things just be natural," Williams said this week from backstage at the amphitheater, where the band returned for two nearly sold-out shows to promote the album.

"Live in St. Augustine" captures the California band on tour for the first time since the pandemic shut down the concert industry. Williams said choosing the venue for recording the live album wasn't difficult. Counting this year's shows, the band has played the St. Augustine Amphitheatre at least a dozen times.

"It’s definitely a special venue," Williams said. "There's a reason why we chose this as the backdrop for our live album DVD release. It's big enough and it's also intimate enough. I like the way it's built and the surroundings of all the nature here in Florida. I like that the canopy, you can put lights on it. It feels like it's custom-made for a couple thousand people to have a great time."

The band doesn't record all of its shows. "Those kind of things, you’ve got a budget and stuff to work with," he said. "If we did that every night, I don’t know if we’d make any money."

It's not the band's first live recording. "Live at Red Rocks," recorded in Colorado, came out in 2016. Nearly half the songs on the new record weren't on the first one. Williams said that shows how the band, which formed in 2004, keeps evolving.

"Every summer we try to change it up from the last summer. We try to add new transitions, new intros and outros," Williams said. "A set is like a story. You’re trying to have a good beginning, a cool middle and a wow factor to end the night to take them on a sonic journey."

Rebelution continues its Good Vibes Summer Tour 2022, with Steel Pulse, DENM and DJ Mackle, through August. You can watch the concert video on the band's YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WSsW3HSotk

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Rebelution releases 'Live in St. Augustine' concert album/DVD