Australia Day Aka Invasion day turned into Jamaican Day @ Fremantle Oval with people turning up in Red, Yellow & Green & Black, Yellow & Green for the fourth installment of raggamuffin. The Perth Dancehall crew rocked up @ about 3pm with Melbourne's own 'The Red Eyes' in full swing. To our surprise the venue looked quite empty, especially with long lines out the front due to only one ticket collector being at the gate.
Ky-Mani Marley was up next & the crowd received the son of the 'King of Reggae, with pure love. Straight away Ky-Mani showed his talent with a great rendition of 'Root Rock Reggae' before showing his versatility with 'Hustler' & songs off his yet to be released album 'Evolution Of A Revolution' that branches out into different genres including Rock & Hip Hop. He finished off with more off his fathers catalog, with 'I Shot the Sheriff' getting the biggest Forward of the night.
'The Original Wailers' were up next, & although there stage name is slightly decieving as no member was actually a part of 'The Original Wailers' (Al Anderson joined in 1974 & Junior Marvin 1977) they showed why Bob Marley was not a one man band & that his 'Backing Band' the Wailers were as much apart of the 250 million records as his highness. Starting off with material from there soon to be released album, Desi Hyson took lead vocals & picked off where Ky-Mani left off. After showcasing new chunes off there soon to be classic album the band switched into more Marley chunes, with the extended version of 'Exodus' showcasing the skill of the band, most notably Paapa 'The Drummer' with an extended solo. The Original Wailers showed true showmanship though one could only wonder what it would be like if Aston 'Familyman' Barrett, Earl 'Wya' Lindo & Alvin 'Seeco' Patterson were alongside there brothers.Next up much to the disappointment of the crowd was Maxi Priest (Sean Paul was listed as next performer). That disappointment soon faded with Maxi Priest giving the Perth Massive a true Jamaican stage show performance. Running thru 'That Girl', 'Wild World', 'Close To You' & House Call intertwined with Beniton Da Menace & Marvin djing in true sounsystem stylee.
Jimmy Cliff OM was up next & in true rudeboy fashion wore a suit & a back to front hat that only a Jamaican of his age & esteem could pull off. At 62 Jimmy Cliff did not show his age, with 'Wonderful World', 'Sitting in Limbo', 'Afghanistan' (retitled version of 'Vietnam') before he swapped over into the dancehall arena & showing all the hottest dance moves including the tunder clap, skip to my luu, sweep etc. After giving the crowd a burst of energy, he slowed down the pace with the Nyabhinghi drums before everyone's lighters came out for 'Many Rivers To Cross' & 'I can see clearly now'. Such is the mans catalog there was not time for 'The Harder they Come' or 80's classic 'Reggae Nights'. The man is truly a legend & without him introducing Bob Marley to all the right people, I doubt very much wether there would of been any staging of Raggamuffin.
Perth Dancehall did not stay for Mary J Blige as the Perth Reggae Massive were deeply offended that the talented R&B singer was the headline act & not one of the many talented REGGAE & DANCEHALL artistes. Thanks Must go out to Andrew Mcmanus for thrusting Reggae back into the pop festival arena, but the show did have its hitches, Including long band changes 30-40 minutes in some cases, poor dj's who did not read the crowd & of Course the no show of the only Dancehall act Sean Paul. Suggestions for next year include mixing up the artistes a bit, there are alot of talented new artistes out there, Don't be second to gettting an artistes over eg. Damian Marley @ Good Vibes, Toots & The Maytals @ Blues & Roots, Sean Paul @ Jamfest all should of debuted at the PREMIER reggae festival. Also a soundsystem tent works well in Reggae festivals in Europe. Cut down band changes & have more ticket collectors available.Review & Video by Russid Kruger & Photos by Jamarie Visic
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