Reggae on the River 2004

This last august, I was blessed enough to attend Reggae on the River for the 2nd time. This year, the trip started Thursday when myself and my friend Ryan drove up from Sonoma to Eureka to stay there for the night and drive south to the festival in the early morning. That was the normal long drive through the Redwoods, about 6 hour drive. I'll start the review off from Early Friday Morning.

Friday

Friday morning started off driving south from Eureka to the festival site. We loaded out of our ride's car, and made our way into the campsite. We had a better time getting prepared this year (those of you who purchased the Reggae on the river DVD from 03 most likely saw me and my friend Tyler trying pathetically to set up our tent having over-packed). This time Ryan and I packed light, and were able to get a spot in about an hour (with the line and finding a good camping spot with sand and not rocks). Friday had a nice cloud cover which made it a fairly cool day. After the traditional Native American blessing, the first act to go on was Santa Cruz's young Prince Rastan, his brother Ahaya, and their father Tito Caleto backed by Soul Majestic. they did a few songs, and had the crowd jumping around, Waving whatever they had, and put off a really high-energy dancehall/hip hop vibe. I always think it is positive to see youth involved in the music, so to see two kids opening one of the country's largest festvals was a good site. After about 30 minutes of Prince Rastan and crew, Soul Majestic came on strong with their own set. They focused a lot on material from their new album "Until That Day," which was recorded in Jamaica a few months back. They put on a really solid set, and got called to do an encore where they did an excellent live version of the title track of their album.

The next performer was Leon and the Peoples. You may recognize Leon as the star of the movie Cool Runnings. I didn't catch a large amount of his set, but from the little I checked out it was ok. Next up was Quinto Sol, who i didn't get to see, so I cannot comment on. Nasio Fontaine put on a heavy roots set, really got everyone in the crowd moving and thinking. The crowd really loved it when he came out with the title track from Living in the Positive. After Nasio were Daude, a singer from Brazil, and Kekele. I didn't get to check their sets out, as I was checking out the interviews in the press tent.

The Messenger Showcase featuring Dean Fraser, Mikey General, and Luciano was great. Solid band, great vocals, can't get any better than that almost. Ozomatli's an ok band, but they aren't reggae at all. Not that a little diversity is a bad thing, but the band isn't terribly great. They are ok, but if they came around to the area, I'd probably only go see them if I had nothing else to do.

Bunny Wailer was the highlight of the weekend for me. He only got to play for 2 hours due to time restrictions (apparently he usually puts on at least a 3 hour show). Though at 2 hours, his set was still great. Overall I thought musically Friday was a very good day, a lot stronger of a Friday lineup than the previous year. However, certain elements after the music stopped Friday were not good. After Bunny left the stage, somebody who appeared to be on a few too many drugs for their own good came up and started shaking me as hard as he could, then ran off. Also, at camp, some idiots kept thinking they were cool by shooting off fireworks everywhere, including right near the tents. My word to anyone who brings chemical drugs or fireworks to any festival: go away, the majority of us who come to enjoy music, life and love don't want those negative vibes. Otherwise Friday was a great day.

Saturday

Saturday started off with Humboldt locals NPK, who i must say were pretty impressive. I'm still not gonna rush out and buy everything they've ever put out, but if they came around to the bay on a Friday or Saturday, I'd go see them. Next up was Groundation, who from the last time I saw them showed serious improvement. they have a new album out entitled "We Free Again", I haven't listened to it yet, but have heard good things about it.

I didn't see Thicker than Thieves, so I can't comment on them at all. However, i managed to catch Wisdom featuring Radioactive. I was pleasantly surprised to see Wisdom included 2 former Strictly Roots members. After Wisdom, it was Detour Posse, who came on pretty strong with a short warm-up set. The first artist they backed was Warrior King, who I feel is massively underrated. He put on an excellent set, complete with favorites and some new tunes. An obviously element in Warrior's music is his respect for Women. That's one thing I personally wish more artists would bring through in their tunes. I believe it's necessary to respect women, and don't support artists who do the opposite. That is why I left the concert bowl during Mr. Vegas' set, because I believed there was no point besides sexism when he started singing "She's a Ho," which for a positive family event there's no need for that. I cam back for Barrington Levy, who is always great. That guy's voice is nothing but pure power. After he left the stage hesitantly (none of us in the crowd wanted Barrington to go). Morgan Heritage came on afterwards, and put on a very good set, although I missed parts of it. I slept during Bounty Killer, cause I refuse to support that slackness/disrespect of Women. I watched Capleton, and was unimpressed. Would have much preferred they had Cocoa Tea perform. Capleton basically spent the whole show talking about how great he is and how wrong everyone else is. If I want to see that, I'll give Jerry Falwell a call.... Overall, Saturday started off good, but went downhill a bit with the slack artists. Between Barrington, Warrior King, and some of the other acts, it was still an excellent day though.

Sunday

Sunday is a hard day at every festival, cause everyone knows it's the last day and nobody wants to say goodbye. It started off with the yearly tribute to Rod Deal by his band mates from the I-deals. Bayanga, from Puerto Rico, came with a great vibe in Spanish and English for the massive. Great high-energy music to just get loose and dance too. I didn't catch Crazy or 3sun, So I can't comment on them. Tanya Stephens came on after them, and she really held down well being the only female artist throughout the weekend. She went through all her biggest songs, backed by a small band (only bass, keyboards and drums). My only complaint about her set was that she got a little risqué at a time of day when there were a lot of youth present, who don't really need to hear the slackness. What can i say about Midnite that hasn't already been said, except that they always come solid. Easy All Stars came out to perform their version of Dark side of the moon live, and what an amazing dub experience that was. They managed to take a great studio concept and turn it into an equally stunning live concept. Steel Pulse came with heavy roots promoting their new album, and did a much better job than they did at Reggae in the Park 03 (the last time I saw them). Pretty impressive, and really came stronger than I expected them too. I only managed to catch about 10 minutes of Michael Franti and Spearhead, because i had to leave the festival early Monday morning, So I said my goodbyes to the friends i made this year, and met again from last year, and went on my way. That morning, me and Ryan left the festival.

Overall, this was an excellent festival. However, crowd elements can be a problem. Personally, if it were up to me there would be no alcohol sold at the festival at all. And I know the promoters try their hardest to keep out fireworks, but there are always going to be twisted people who think they are cool by shooting them off all over camp. those of us who come for a weekend away from the hectic life don't want negative vibes, because we love Reggae music and it's culture. So even with the crowd issues, I still have to give respects out to People's Productions for Reggae on the River.

by,

Ras James