Summerjam 2005

Saturday 9 July 2005

On Saturday it was hard to stay in the tents for long with the heat, so we took the opportunity to look around the place before the first shows of the day. The camping area is huge, with tents in every direction and music pretty much everywhere. The island, which is the festival proper, is smaller, but literally overrun with stalls of all kinds, and there too music echoes from every corner. It is amusing to note, by the way, that most of the artists played by the amateur sounds that populate the campsite and the festival are the ones on this year's bill.

The early afternoon therefore passed quite easily, with plenty of varied activities and the sun on our side. What a surprise when, at 3.20pm, we moved closer to the main stage to see the show by Cali P., Spectacular and Half Pint, and found that Spectacular was already on stage. The organisers were ahead of the schedule, so we had missed Cali P.


Spectacular
Spectacular looked in Olympic form, striding the length of the stage and haranguing the crowd forcefully. Bouncing and smiling, he seemed genuinely happy to be there, but the crowd gave him only a lukewarm response, and it was only on tracks like his duets with Sizzla or Jah Cure that the atmosphere built up a little. Some songs from his recent album were received very coolly, and it was only with Voice of the people on the Doctor's darling riddim (a local production) that he finally got the encouragement he deserves.

Half Pint
Half Pint took the pressure up a notch. Coming on to the legendary Greetings, he launched into a run of unmissable hits: Mr. Landlord, Crazy, One big family, Hold on, Winsome, Level the vibes. All the greatest songs in his repertoire were played and the crowd was delighted. So much so that when the singer got the crowd singing along on tracks like Substitue lover or Just be good, they gave it back to him in full and Half Pint seemed thrilled. A brief encore mixing Dancehall posse, and Victory, and it was already over. But what a show! It is a real pleasure to see this great gentleman on stage, a pleasure far too rare in our part of the world, and despite a few small problems with the volume of the microphone, we would happily have had another hour.

CHUCK FENDER
Once Half Pint had left the stage, the presenter told us of a small change to the programme. Chuck Fender would be next, followed by Barrington Levy, contrary to what had been planned. Since the release of his album and his departure from Fifth Element, Fender has continued to put out very high-quality singles. So, after the usual but thunderous entrance on Haffi win, we heard the tunes that made his name (Better days, Jah is worthy, I swear) as well as the songs from his album (The prayer, Mama, Oh my Lord), but also more recent tracks, such as Hungry attack on the Hard drug riddim or All about da weed, on Maximum Sound's Truth and rights riddim (played a little oddly). Fender left the stage on that one, leaving the crowd in a trance, before coming back to finish the song and give us two more tracks: the terrific For my people, on the Blaze riddim (another local production, which no doubt explains the explosive reception) and the gripping God is my witness on the Lava ground riddim. Chuck Fender proved once again that he is truly one of the essential artists of the current reggae scene, whose standing has apparently suffered very little from his ousting from Fifth Element. He kept asking for them to bring him back next year with a longer slot, claiming he wanted to give a three-hour show to such a warm crowd.

BARRINGTON LEVY
It was barely 7pm and the crowd thickened even more around the red stage to applaud Barrington Levy. Still enjoying a more than solid reputation despite thin recent output, the dancehall pioneer started very strongly, linking two of his biggest hits: Murderer and Under mi sensi. The crowd had plenty of response and welcomed what followed just as warmly: Teach the youths, Too experienced, Every posse must work (remixed over an instrumental reminiscent of the Mad antz riddim), Sweet reggae music, Collie weed, Please Jah Jah, Living dangerously...

In great form and very talkative, Barrington Levy introduced each track with a short speech, and bounced along the stage. His energetic performance was nevertheless let down by recurring microphone problems. The high point of his concert was unquestionably the huge medley on the Revolution riddim, on which he linked Black roses, followed by Dennis Brown's anthems Rub a dub style and Revolution, finishing with his biggest hit Here I come. Unstoppable. He left the stage after a balanced, very consistent show, without a false note.

YELLOWMAN
We then headed to the small stage where Yellowman was about to perform (another change to the programme, in fact, as he was originally scheduled for the next day). From the moment he walked on stage, the crowd was at fever pitch. Dressed in the colours of Jamaica from head to toe, King Yellowman looked delighted and gave everything he had. The atmosphere on tunes such as Nobody move or One Yellowman inna di Yard was impressive and, honestly, we hadn't seen the deejay in such form for a very long time. Unfortunately, it was with some frustration that we had to go back to the main stage to catch one of the festival's major shows, that of the Fifth Element crew, joined for the occasion by Jah Mason.


ANTHONY CRUZ
Anthony Cruz was first on stage. After a superb Mama's blessing, a big tune on the I swear riddim, the Fifth Element crooner didn't waste a second and packed in as many songs as he could in the little time he had. This allowed him, on top of his usual big hits (Turn it up, Mari-wanna or I'm the man), to treat us to more recent songs, such as No guns a dance, released on Stone Love's Real rock riddim, and his hit of the moment, a duet with Buju Banton, Too bloody, which received a very warm welcome. But it was still his cover of Usher, U got it bad, that drew the biggest forward. A performance that was a little too short, but which nonetheless gave a good sense of the singer's talent. We can't wait to see an album from Mr. Cruz on the Fifth Element label...


JAH MASON
It was now Jah Mason's turn to set the crowd massed in front of the red stage alight. He burst in with a devastating Burn dem for a purpose and kicked off a show, also very short, with no pauses and no speeches. The big tunes followed one another relentlessly, older ones (Lion foot, Hard mama work) and fresher ones, like Who dem a ramp wid and the huge Mi chalwa, which had its effect on our German neighbours too. The show ended grandly with Run come love me, in tribute to his friend Jah Cure, Princess gone of course, and Hill vibes, which finished off the madness in the crowd. A vocal performance to match and frenzied energy for the most intense Jah Mason show we have ever been lucky enough to see, even if definitely too short.


RICHIE SPICE
Night had fallen and Richie Spice was to take over. He was billed as the artist of the year and so was eagerly awaited by a large majority of the crowd. But without our really knowing why, his show lacked punch and emotion. Wearing red woollen gloves, the singer didn't seem in his element and even his voice let him down at times. The programme for his show was very appealing, yet right from the start he rather massacred the enormous The way you're living, and strangely he seemed more at ease singing the older tracks from his album "Universal" (Time so rough, Grooving my girl) than the more recent ones, like Ghetto girl or Righteous youth. Even his biggest hits, Earth a run red or the recent Youths are so cold on the Truth and rights riddim (still played just as oddly), failed to fire up the crowd, and Richie Spice seemed almost in a hurry to be done with this show, which he himself surely felt was uneven and not very revealing of his great potential. Let's hope he will be in better form for the French audience at Ja' Sound...

GENTLEMAN
Then came the last show of the evening, which was also a bit THE show of the festival, since it was Gentleman, playing at home, and he himself had told us that morning that it would be a performance "apart", something big. And he did not lie. A tight show, as he has long accustomed us to seeing, but with that extra magic and energy that comes from playing on home turf. The young German singer was in perfect harmony with his audience, and on tracks like Dem gone or Superior the harmony between the artist and his fans became quite simply breathtaking. He undoubtedly set the main stage's attendance record, and it must be said that the excellent Groundation were rather unlucky, as they were playing at the same time on the green stage to a delighted but smaller crowd. The highlight of the show was kept for the end with an impressive succession of guests. First Afu Ra joined the young German singer for a duet, which is now customary. Then he invited the cream of the German reggae dancehall scene for a huge combination; Gentleman, Seed, Patrice, D. Flame and Nosliw on the same stage, and in Germany to boot, you can believe it was something! Finally, Barrington Levy, then Chuck Fender and Richie Spice (together!) joined him, each taking their turn on the vibe of a show like nothing seen in twenty years of Summerjam.

Exhausted by all these emotions, we dragged ourselves back to our tents on our last legs, without even enough energy left to enjoy the sound system night that was nonetheless hosting David Rodigan, alongside Pow Pow and Sentinel.

Sunday 10 July 2005

Sunday afternoon passed more peacefully, with all the major concerts relegated to the end of the day. Lulled by the reggae soul melodies of Zoe, who was playing on the small stage behind us, we watched an unusual spectacle by the lake. A troupe of young child acrobats, coached by a sort of old bearded German rasta, was performing on a small stage set up on one of the banks. To a backdrop of rasta sermons delivered by the coach and old reggae hits, the children performed some quite impressive unicycle routines. However, the contrast between this slightly "off his head" old man and these children could not prevent a certain feeling of unease. Never mind, it all went off in good spirits and made for a very pleasant show while we waited for more serious things...

Once again, the main stage presenter announced a small change of programme, since Anthony B. would only perform later, making way for the trio of veterans, Frankie Paul, U Roy and Gregory Isaacs.

Frankie Paul
It was Lloyd Parkes who handled the intro, with his tune Mafia. Behind him, his band, the We The People Band, who would back all three singers. His voice, undeniably superb, was nonetheless surprising, and went off into variations that were at times painful. Frankie Paul was first to take the stage and it was fire straight away. This singer, too often disparaged, proved more than ever that he is not short of classic tunes. From the start, Alesha, mixed with a cover of Half Pint's Greetings, had the effect of a bomb. Tidal wave followed, the essential Worries in the dance and the unavoidable Pass the tushungpeng, but also Big and ready on the In the mood for love riddim (again mixed, with Sanchez's Loneliness this time), Warning and Slow Down... Frankie Paul linked the big tunes with a voice we had rarely heard so powerful and melodic. He would not give us the joy of an encore, however: three artists were once again sharing the bill and they had to keep moving. So Frankie Paul gave way to U Roy after just thirty minutes of show.

U-Roy
Perfectly at ease, his voice ideally carried by the microphone, it was U Roy's turn to walk on stage, with Wake the town, followed by Chalice in the palace and Version galore. He played his version over the particularly moving Only a smile by John Holt... A cruel reminder of the absence of the singer originally announced. Also limited to thirty minutes, U Roy raced through the hits: Natty rebel, Rule the nation, Runaway girl, they all got played. No encore for him either, he left the stage with the crowd torn between joy and frustration. And it was already Gregory Isaacs' turn.

Gregory Isaacs
The Cool Ruler decidedly no longer has that bewitching voice. Although the magic settles in from the first notes of the songs, his overly nasal voice makes you long for the good old days, and even an exaggerated microphone volume can't help. He nonetheless got through it honourably, also lining up hit after hit: after opening with Number one, he continued with Tune in, Soon forward, Love is overdue, Night nurse, then Mr. Brown.
He did get an encore (Rumours) before all three came back on stage for a short togetherness session. When they left the stage, exactly 1h30 had gone by. Although quality was not lacking, some hid their disappointment. With three such monuments on stage...

Perfect
It was now Anthony B.'s turn to take over. The fans were numerous in front of the red stage and, without reaching Gentleman's record, Anthony B. could boast of being a major headliner of this Summerjam. As in Paris, during his recent visit, the show was opened by a young artist, but this time it was not King Dove but "Perfait", to use the presenter's pronunciation. What a surprise! And before hearing his instantly recognisable gimmick ("Giddymani!"), we didn't want to believe it... but Perfect, one of the revelations from Jamaica this year, was indeed there. In the crowd, most people didn't seem to know who he was, but no matter, in four songs the young bobo showed everybody the extent of his talent. With overflowing energy, astonishing vocal ease and songs as varied as Johnny on the Chapter a day riddim, the love song Rainbow on the Lava ground, the huge Handcart bwoy (which made his name) and All I've got on the Real life, Perfect covered every style and easily won the crowd's overall support.


Anthony B
That is how you warm up a stage before welcoming a phenomenon like Anthony B., and if the latter didn't want to be outdone by his guest, he would have to deliver. Fortunately for him, he had the crowd on his side and from the opening on Peter Tosh's classic Equal rights, it was fire everywhere. Untouchable, Hurt the heart, One thing, Lighter and Waan back followed, for a show that looked more and more like the one he gave in Paris in every respect. Cut out that, Weed fi free, Raid di barn, Good life, the show ran its course, tight but without surprises. And it was during his duet with Dasia, one of his backing singers, that we decided to make our way to the green stage to applaud the only truly dancehall act of the festival, Ward 21. Our only regret was not being able to see Perfect return alongside Anthony B. for their song that is doing so well right now, No shelly.

Ward 21
It had been a while since we had seen the four mad dogs of Ward 21 in our part of the world and, given how few dancehall events there were in Europe this summer, we were waiting for this with some impatience. All dressed in khaki green, the four friends landed on stage with all the hits that made their name: Bloodstain, Haters, Judgement day, Spy. The crowd jumped in every direction and it seemed that a contest had tacitly opened between the crowd and the stage, to see who would be the maddest. The show continued with intense energy, the instrumentals delivered by The Scrucialists, the Swiss band backing them, were tight, if without much daring, and the group arranged its songs fairly chronologically. So it was more recent tracks that followed, with Hotta, betta, phatta on a crazy Clappas riddim, Style on the Flip and even the very recent Lady Musgrave on the crew's latest production, the I rob. Then the pace calmed a little to make room for interesting stage experiments; we got Rhyme backed by just a beatbox from Kunley, then "Gal factory" accompanied only by the drummer and even a reggae tune, on the very recent remix version of the Rougher yet riddim (Ward 21 covering Love bump feels pretty strange, all the same). We went back to dancehall for the end of the show, with Coochie zone on the Gallop riddim, May I on the Stepz and Please on the Military; in short, nothing but heavyweight stuff! A short encore even gave us the pleasure of hearing Thug for life and the unmissable Ganja smoke, which the whole crowd sang along to.

Tanya Stephens
Then came the last show of this festival and here again the choice was cruel, since Tanya Stephens was on the small stage while Alpha Blondy was on the main stage. Alpha Blondy's reputation in Germany being well established, we trusted him fully to deliver a quality show and so we opted for Tanya. She came on with Handle the ride, then moved on to a few dancehall tracks and . Then, very quickly, the show became calmer, more vocal. In a very reggae soul style, Tanya lined up the hits, illustrating them with little personal anecdotes or explaining their lyrics: Can't breathe, Tonight and After you (on the Drop leaf riddim) all went down a treat. The dancehall diva even tried her hand at a short cover of Mary J. Blige, before launching into her song-form reply to the latter's lyrics. Smiling, sexy and funny, Tanya won over her audience and, on classic tunes like Nuh ready fi dis yet or her biggest success It's a pity, the forward was once again very impressive. By way of an encore, she invited Ward 21 to join her for a short improvisation, which unfortunately had to be cut short; time is time, the festival was drawing to a close and the organisers still had plenty of work to do.

To conclude, we would say that the stay was very pleasant, as always at Summerjam, but that for a twentieth anniversary, the line-up was perhaps a little too ordinary. Add the few shifts in the programming and the slight frustration of often having to sacrifice one concert for another, and you could even say this year was a vintage a little below the others. It would certainly have been quite different if John Holt and Sizzla had been there, as planned, or if, quite simply, Fantan Mojah had been invited, since he had been at Rototom a week earlier. Let's stop there, if we don't want to be branded killjoys, and admit that it was a good Summerjam, no more, which is a shame for a twentieth. See you next year then...