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REGGAE CULTURAMA '97
July 20, 1997
Downing Stadium
Randall's Island, New York
This year's Reggae Sunsplash in New York, alternately called the Reggae Culturama, went off beautifully on a sun-drenched day at Downing Stadium on Randall's Island. Though I heard many complaints regarding the brevity of many of the performer's sets, most people seemed more than satisfied with the near-perfect weather and the huge slate of artists who took the stage. Besides, the point of these shows is not to provide the audience with the ideal conditions to see their favorite stars--most fans would prefer a smaller, more intimate setting--but instead to overwhelm the senses with food, vendors, sights, sounds and, of course, nine straight hours of live reggae music. The spirit of the crowd was positive and peaceful, suggesting that New Yorkers havefinally moved out of the shadow of the disastrous Steeplechase Park concert two summers ago, when a stampede broke out and ended the show prematurely.
New York City is most definitely still ruled by the dancehall, so artists like General Degree and Spragga Benz, who both played early in the afternoon, were received warmly by the crowd. The biggest responses were without a doubt elicited by Lady Saw and Beenie Man, the reigning king and queen of the dancehall.
We must give credit to the concert organizers for running such a smooth show. There were very few long gaps between acts, and those brief ones that were necessary for band changes were filled with good music from a rotating group of deejays. The vendors, who were looped around the back of the playing field, provided a wide array of tasty foods and treats, including jerk chicken, patties, spicy corn, ackee and saltfish and more Jamaican cuisine. A large tanker of drinking water provided much needed relief from the heat and dehydration. The police presence was heavy, though from what we could tell, very courteous and they didn't seem to be harping on the extensive ganja smoking prevalent throughout the stadium. I even saw one or two officers dancing and swaying to a few of the acts, further testament to the power of reggae music to even reach into the hearts of babylon's soldiers.
The strongest set of the day, in my opinion, featured Sister Carol, followed by Brigadier Jerry and Anthony B. I have heard Sister Carol sound better, and her voice especially lost much of its nuance in the cavernous stadium, but she shined when doing a rousing rendition of "Jah Jah Guide And Protect." Sister Carol's mentor, as well as the teacher of many of the deejays in the world, Brigadier Jerry, followed immediately and knocked the crowd out with his many styles and tricks of the trade. A haunting song like "In The Ghetto" lost none of its power in the impersonal setting, while an anthem like "Jamaica Jamaica," which Briggy opened with, whipped the crowd into a frenzy. While he sang it, a sea of green and black Jamaican flags waved above the huge crowd. Almost every artist at one point in their set merely had to mention Jamaica to get a similar response. Besides the ever-present Jamaican banner, flags from Bermuda, Ethiopia and even America's stars and stripes could be seen as well. After Briggy left the stage, up and coming superstar Anthony B. roared on with his usual energy and swagger. This was the highlight of the day--a powerful set of songs, well played, rousing and musical--the complete package. His set was as exciting and as strong as when he performed in New York a month before (see our live review of that show).
Though it was hot and sunny half way back in the stadium, where we had set up our blankets and base camp, closer to the stage was an oven. Thousands of people elbow to elbow helped raise the temperature in the crowd at least ten degrees, while cutting off any chance for the breeze toblow. Big, fat dragon flies swooped just overhead trying to find the bugs such a mass would attract. Several people had umbrellas to protect them from the sun, but these were a distraction for the rest of us, often blocking the view of the stage. All of this was worth it, however, because when a song like Anthony B.'s "Raid The Barn" began, you felt not only the intense, rumbling bass in your chest, but also the community of thousands of reggae fans singing every word to a song you know and love.
Lady Saw provided one of the most memorable sets of the day, improving on her appearance at last year's festival. A large reason for that had to be the large number of hits she has had in the past year which made her performance even more exciting. She also is so out there in her lewdness that she has to be seen to be believed. Replacing any word possible with the word Fuck, Lady Saw proved she is the Blow Fly of dancehall, going places Yellowman, for all of his slackness, hasn't even dared to tread. This is especially startling, and I would say refreshing, in reggae, where it seems Jamaican women are not often allowed this sort of freedom in discussing sexual matters. The best moments of her show were between songs, when she would sing bawdy a capella treats, like a doctored version of Van Morrison's "Crazy Love"where in the word Love was replaced by the word...well, you get the idea. Lady Saw has lately been moving away from exclusively relying on graphic material in her recordings, and has moved toward less lewd fare like her fantastic single over the Joyride riddim, "Sycamore Tree." This is a smart move on her part, because in most musical genres, not just in reggae, someone who relies on material this sex-drenched generally becomes a novelty instead of a cornerstone.
Dennis Brown, the crown prince, who anchored last year's show with a brief set, made his appearance much earlier this year. His act was a bit longer than last year's, barely giving him time to delve deeply into his enormous catalog of hits. He treated the crowd to a sing along on "Revolution," and sounded great on an encore of "Cassandra." I hope to one day see Dennis play a full two hour set and really knock my socks off as I know he could. His voice sounded as strong as ever, but his set seemed like a brief star cameo in anotherwise long movie. Likewise, Barrington Levy played an even shorter set, and didn't even sing his huge hits "Here I Come (Broader Than Broadway)" or "Living Dangerously." He seemed unhappy with something, though I'm not sure if it was the monitors, the atmosphere or the tepid crowd reaction tohis song "Work." He was the only artist to not do an encore, even though the crowd was more than ready.
Cocoa T., one of the sweetest voiced singers currently still making hits, played a wicked and solid half hour, though I will admit that by this time I was starting to feel the strain of a full day baking in the sun and was forced to retreat to the safety of our blanket. The crowd was very into Cocoa, blowing whistles and waving flags for songs like "Israel's King" and "Good Life." I hope to see the sweet T. at some point in a more intimate setting, so that I can really concentrate on his wonderful voice and long list of hit songs.
The ladies in the crowd were extremely excited over the next singer, Sanchez. He did not disappoint. His crooning voice is adept at many styles, so a large part of his set was devoted to more traditional R&B sounding tracks, the sort of love songs that sound almost too sweet. For instance, he sang a straight ahead version of a Tom Jones song, which is not your typical material for a reggae singer to tackle. However, he held the crowd in his power when he performed huge hits like "Never Dis The Man."
Finally, at the end of the show, the crowd was ready for the man they call The Doctor, the current master of the dance, Beenie Man. Beenie was his usual energetic self, dressed ina yellow suit, and belting out hit after hit--he has had somany in such a short time that he could have played for two hours easily and the audience would not have complained. During his show, he brought Silver Cat on for an appearance, and they dueted on two songs. Beenie brought down the stadium as the sun went down at last over the western walls behind the bleachers. As we shuffled off, trying to beat the lines that would form on the buses to return to Manhattan, Beenie was still rocking, whipping through songs like "Old Dog" and "Nuff Gals." All in all, it was a great ending to an altogether smooth and positive day, one without problems or hassles--just a trailorload of reggae stars and music!
There is already another late summer concert planned at Downing Stadium, so hopefully the positive vibes will continue to permeate this former soccer field. I know that this year's show was better than last year's, and future ones should keep getting better as the concert promoters become more and more acquainted with the ins and outs of this venue. As it is Culturama 97 will be remembered fondly as one of the best shows of the year.
By Lem
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Sanchez :: Sugar Minott Dec 3, 2002 New York City ::
Jr Kelly ::
Frankie Paul ::
Sugar
Minott ::
The Meditations
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