It was trial by fire - literally - when lead singer Elan Atais played his first gig with the Wailers. He had never practiced with the group, and the outdoor concert in Dubuque was performed against a backdrop of jagged lightning strikes.

“I really wasn’t scared. I just wanted to make sure I got the lyrics right, because I knew everyone in the audience knew the lyrics,” Atais said. In that original gig, he was depending on his memory of the band’s records that filled his childhood growing up in Los Angeles.

When the set was finished, a steamy rain came down like liquid applause, he said.

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