Reggae Festivals in Europe 2009

[Daniel Hammond]

Hello sir/madam,

I am Daniel Hammond
We are based in Ghana. SHIDAA CULTURAL DANCING GROUP is an African traditional group that performs all African traditional cultural dances.... We perform on functions such as launching, entertainment and
among other states functions (e.g. Ghana's independence day every year). We don't only dance but we also teach individuals and schools that have
interest in cultural dance and .We organize tourism for individuals and groups with the interest of knowing
much about Africa particularly Ghana and it diverse cultural values. With our wide range of traditional drums and cultural outfits that puts smiles on your face, you are assured of a memorable visit to Ghana, the gateway to
Africa. Do you seek to entertain your crowd, occasion, Festivals, Carnivals, Theater shows, launching or amusement
programs? Do you also seek to entertain, educate your crowd about African traditional culture? Do you want to get a exposed to traditional Ghanaian Drums and Outfits? Please call on us for your reservations. Look forward to hear from you soon.

We also work on contract bases with any company....

All we need is to provide is visa and flight ticket and accommodation.

Thank you

Regards
Daniel Hammond

www.danielhammond234.webs.com

[amelie]

Just got back from my first Reggae Geel in Belgium. A great festival with large,friendly and happy crowd. Well organised and safe. Would recommend to anyone.

Amelie

[Soph]

Rototom in Italy is the best Eurpean reggae festival ...covered most of them across europe sundance is cancelled this year in holland ...big shame ..off to france on the 7th for sun ska ...but in honesty its rototom all the way .enjoy see u there 2010

[Julz]

Just got back from 4 days at Reggae Rising in California and we decided next year to try some European reggae festivals. One love, Julz

[bullit]

Im going to one called Jam n' Island in Instanbul on saturday.

few djs, few bands, misty and roots.

There is another one coming up in sept in Istanbul but im heading south so might not be able to make it, Reggae seems to be a bit thin on the ground, time to bring it to the country more i think

[bullit]

Ah ha. I went to this, i couldnt believe it.

Firstly, the scene was beautifiul, island bay, beach, sun. However; they changed the line up, last day it showed up as Nucleus Roots and not Misty.. I'm unsure how this happened.

All the DJ's played CD's which is a shame, a lot of the newer dancehall style, not much pre 96'. In Turkey one band claims it is Turkey's only reggae band (Sattas) however at this occasion there were more like 3 or 4.

There was a lot of covers, from bob marley to Dambala (i found this choice interesting), although some of the vocalists were strong i was disapointed by the lack of creativity by covering other peoples records, especially the frequent bob marley covers. Two of the main acts seemed to swap vocalists between the band changes which seemed to be the main change which supports the conception that they were mainly covering other bands tunes.

There was an interesting artist Enzo, who claimed to be a refugee who had settled in Turkey after fleeing his country for political reasons.

Nucleus Roots came on late as the whole night had been pushed back late due to late starters, only the three people, producer and two singers. Lots of English to a Turkish audience who didnt understand a lot of it. I havent seen Nucleus Roots before and was suprised that they were very vocal about Jah and God to a secular country.

I was most suprised by the sentence; "Now I know there is something we all share we all believe in God, I believe i was created by God" and then "I didnt come from no monkey". Later the band claimed Education was the key.

Now im not claiming that these beliefs are wrong but it seemed strange to be so strong about it to the audience, i very religious selection of tunes followed by many calls on Moses and prophets, twelve tribes, etc.

Their equipment and their leads failed them in the end, serious problems and in the end all the vocals and the backing music dropped out, after a while a faulty lead was found to be the problem between their on stage desk and the soundmans desk. We took the boat from there at 3.30am accross the sea back to the mainland to the city with them playing on to a few people in the background..

Memorable and interesting night.. I'm hoping i can bring more reggae to Turkey somehow.

James.

[bwoyrough]

Great job you doing James, hope u can get some more reggae bands out their, regarding the lyrics of nucleus roots, i guess religion usually dominates most roots reggae songs, especially the older bands, most roots reggae songs tend to have words from the bible or from stories relating to the bible. Nuclues roots have been doing the festivals for a long time, i remember seeing them back in about 1990 at glastonbury, they seem to be constantly on tour and appear at clubs+festivals all over the UK.

[bullit]

Well, we'll see, I have a fear of sending any of my records by mail.. or ship or any other type of transport when im not 5 feet away from them; this leaves using a car or something to get them here the main way and then theres the concern over warping in the heat!.

Religion can be a major part of reggae yes as is revolution and many other messages but i think these shouldnt dominate a set especially if the audiences views may differ from your own (which in my case it did) I think its highly contraversial getting people to dance to messages which they are unable to even understand (the language barrier) hm. Anyway we'll see what happens with reggae in Turkey, should be interesting.

[jb welda]

oh you dont have to go to turkey to have controversy over reggae lyrics. just come to california and throw on uhurus abortion or any number of other lyrics (not to mention batty war lyrics) and watch the audience react. more likely though they wont even catch the reference because they cant get the patois...they are just there to smoke and dance not get an education.

one love
jah bill