Reggae Rising 2007

After months of an intense war of words, various allegations and lawsuits People Productions finally managed to move forth and produce their first annual Reggae Rising festival as the Mateel Community Center hangs on the old moniker of Reggae on the River. In the end the landowner gave permission for use of the site to the group who had the experience in throwing the festival in years passed. The win, unfortunately, was not without it’s drawbacks. Most attendees that weekend walking the path still referred to the annual event as Reggae on the River, but it was obvious that a few keys differences were in place and a looming sense of nervousness clouded the normally joyous event. For starters, attendance, though reportedly a sold out event, was noticeably smaller than before. An interesting observation considering that a big part of the dispute between the two parties revolved around unaccounted sales from last year. According to a lawsuit filed back in February, Mateel “believes that defendants collected revenues from the sale of wristbands which were not reported as ROR revenues.”

It must be noted that in the end People Productions were cleared of any wrongdoing, but they face an uphill battle to continue expanding due to the lack of name recognition alone. As late as a week before the event, one prominent radio personality in the bay area went on the airwaves lamenting over ROTR with no mention of the Reggae Rising event. Also, the lack of information amongst the reggae community about the entire ordeal left some die-hard regulars reluctant to attend the event while still others filled in the gaps with their own “conspiracy theories” creating a sleuth of misinformation. The ambiguity continued at a press conference held during the event with the head of People Productions, Carol Bruno, as she avoided any clarification of the breakup and subsequent lawsuits the followed.

As for the event itself, musically it was a return to a more foundation and roots-oriented lineup. Up n comers like Collie Buddz were the exception amongst well-established acts such as the Abyssinians and Freddie McGregor. In fact, two out of the three days were capped of by performances from legends Anthony B, Sly and Robbie and Ziggy Marley. The last day was another Marley family extravaganza with both Stephen and Damian Marley each doing full-length sets along with a collaborative melody towards the end of the night. Damian’s set in particular was an explosive demonstration of an artist who’s really come into his own. Running through songs from each of his albums, encoring with his monster hit of last year “Welcome to Jamrock”, Damian has truly elevated the Marley legacy, attracting a whole new generation to his father’s message.

The Friday lineup was a chance for a newer generation of artists to kick off the weekend properly. Early on Richie Spice gave the crowd a taste of his growing musical arsenal. Although his stage presence can be a bit lackluster at times he made up for it with his strong live rendition of “Youth Dem So Cold” over the Johnny Osbourne’s truth and rights riddim. Collie Buddz was a surprisingly good show as well as Queen Omega, but it was Fatan Mojah who took the night and possibly the entire weekend. Right out the gate he obliterated the stage with pure adrenaline, almost appearing to be channeling the energy of his late father Jacob Miller. His early evening performance felt more like that of a headliner as he ran up and down the stage inciting the crowd into an uproar. Immediately after was Anthony B who delivered nicely, followed by the Heavyweight Dub Champion who kept the majority of the crowd fully amped and ready for the first night of the dancehall.

Aw the dancehall… the other major noticeable difference from previous years. Unlike before, where the dance would be held in a dome located in the heart of the campgrounds, this year People Prod sectioned off part of the main concert area with an additional entrance fee required. Though the idea seemed promising, it would appear it failed in the end. Throughout the weekend a majority of the crowd still ventured off to the old site where, amongst others, bay area DJ Marc Jaeger and Massive Sound kept the vibes going into the early morning for a crowd of hundreds for free. The extra fee seemed to be counterproductive for a company who’s trying to maintain their loyal fan base.

Saturday’s performances by Morgan Heritage and Sly and Robbie were the most notable of the day. The absence of Horace Andy who was billed to perform with the Taxi Gang was indeed disappointing, but it give Sly and Robbie the chance to run through various classic riddims. Their set became more of a foundation history lesson for the thousands who might not have been familiar with the contribution these two have made to reggae music. Interesting to note that according to the festival program guide Sly and Robbie “have played on or produced some 200,000 songs!” Hard to top, but Sunday’s lineup was equally strong due to sets by Richie Stephens, Freddie McGregor and Steel Pulse. Each gave fantastic performances and warmed it up nicely for the Marley brothers who closed out the weekend.

After all of the drama and speculation the first annual Reggae Rising was a solid festival full of familiarity and obvious changes. The intentions are still that of putting on one of the biggest reggae events in the country, a goal that continues to be accomplished, but a community has suffered in the process. Whether it’s the community of Humboldt at odds with either party because of the dispute or the fans who are left wondering whether this may be the end of an era, some damage has occurred. For their part, People Prod managed to do a great job at reassuring the fans that this is essentially the same festival despite it all. In the end though, it doesn’t come down to whether it’s changing or not but rather the direction of that change. For that time will tell.

Posted in Concerts, Features