A day of music and conversation…
The Rockin’ Reggae Fest at Stramler Park Saturday was a day filled with music and conversation. It was a day that was more rockin’ than reggae compared to reggae fests I had been to in the past.
Lost Ocean was performing when I arrived. They are an extremely talented group of young college musicians. I had spent an afternoon not too long ago laying on a friend’s couch listening to and absorbing the intricate and multi-layered music of their CD
Douse the Choir. Saturday I sat and listened as the guys of Lost Ocean and
NL talked about self-invention and band marketing strategies. A conversation that affected me in a way none of them were aware of as their conversation and music permeated into my mind and spread like electric fingers stimulating thought processes and stringing together ideas I wanted to write about. I longed for a notebook to take notes. Lacking a notebook, I bought a copy of their CD
Douse the Choir so I could continue soaking in Lost Ocean’s inspiring music and attitude-- keeping those ideas spinning in my head until I can get them sorted out and written down.
Liars and Thieves were milling about all day in plaid shirts and jeans looking like the friendly Three Musketeers. I like Liars and Thieves. I’ve heard them
perform several times and they really have a unique energetic sound. Although I didn’t get to see Liars and Thieves perform Saturday, (because they were on stage two at the same time Mento Buru was on stage one and it had been years since I’d seen Mento Buru perform), I could hear the distinctive sounds of
Don’t Stop Get It where I was sitting in the shade listening to Mento Buru. One thing I have noticed about Liars and Thieves is that they support bands and the local music scene. I can always find at least one member, if not all, of their band at various music shows.
Mento Buru gave an outstanding performance with a large member ensemble band that included horn and percussion sections. Mento Buru was better than I had remembered. Their typically Ska music filled with Latin influences made for exciting feel good music. People got up and danced to their set, including
JR. Theirs was one of the few sets all day that inspired dancing. Not being too familiar with Ska music; I asked NL to enlighten me as we listened to Mento Buru, which he did at great length giving me a better appreciation of the music I was enjoying. Mento Buru is performing again June 10, 2005 with
Norfolk at Fishlips.
After meeting Rocky and Preston Nash last week at the Mint I was looking forward to hearing their band perform Saturday. Rocky and Preston Nash are one of the most interesting and stylistic couples I’ve met since Gehard Enns and Nico Rhodes of the
Dalloways. Although their styles are worlds apart both couples are well spoken, intellectual, creative and musically gifted with an image and sense of style befitting their chosen music genres. I was not disappointed when
Rocky Nash took the stage. Even though there were some technical difficulties with the sound during their set, their music was exceptional and tight transitioning from one song to the next with simple grace. Rocky and Preston have great chemistry on stage together and Rocky Nash is a sexy rock star! It’s great to finally see a woman giving the men of the local music scene a run for their money.
What is Pyschobilly?? A new musical category stemming from Punk and Rockabilly. Two Pyschobilly bands took the stage Saturday,
Tiger Army and
NightCrawlers. Tiger Army, one of the headlining bands at Saturday’s Rockin’ Reggae Fest, hailed from Los Angeles and were very good. I was impressed with their music. I am a huge fan of jazz trios, so I’m always impressed when anyone takes a concert bass and rocks out with it! The NightCrawlers are a local young Pyschobilly band who I had seen once before at the Battle of the Bands over at the Montgomery World Plaza. The concert bass player and the guitarist of the NightCrawlers are twin brothers whose father I worked with for many years. He was right down in front of the stage cheering his kids on. With their long hair, punk dress and Pyschobilly music they sure have come a long way from the sweet little innocent boys that used to come into my office.
Ridikule had a booth selling merchandise. They have really cool t-shirts! I have one that I got at a previous show. The band members of Ridikule are some of the friendliest and most supportive guys in the local music scene. Their camaraderie with other bands is to be rivaled. They are a fun punk rock band. Luckily I’ve seen Ridikule a couple of times before, because they performed on stage two at the same time Rocky Nash performed on stage one.
And then there was my favorite band of the day. The band I came to see,
Karmahitlist! Karmahitlist stole the show from everyone else Saturday! I already wrote about how
I’m in love with Karmahitlist, but you can also read
NL’s and
JR’s write-ups on Karmahitlist and the
day. I will add that I finally got a coveted Karmahitlist t-shirt, which is the next best thing to the real thing!
There were a lot of other bands performing Saturday… so many I can’t remember them all. It was a great day of sun, music and conversations with old and new friends...
My Photos...