A Fortune Most Irie
In one of the best twists of fate ever experienced by mankind, the 13th Annual Lafayette Reggae & Cultural Festival has made its way from the wretched heat of July and August into the cooler second weekend of September.
A move to a later date and a stellar lineup make foran unforgettable Lafayette Reggae & Cultural Festival.
The change in dates occurred when the festival's scheduled venue, the Carencro Fairgrounds, went out of business. According to Chief Chris Omigie, the founder and promoter of the event, that almost spelled the end of the Reggae Festival. However, he learned that it was possible for the three days of good music to be moved back to its birthplace - Pelican Park. And, because of baseball tournaments, the Park was booked through August pushing the festival back until the weekend of Sept. 13 through 15. Not to despair, though; as Omigie explains, this new date and venue works out for the best.
"We said that going to September would have been a better time. It would be cooler and everybody would be in school so it looked like everything was going to work out in our favor so we deiced to move it to Pelican Park," says Omigie, a real-life Nigerian chief. "I think we are very grateful to move it to Pelican Park; that is where it started 13 years ago."
Another piece of good fortune for the festival is the lineup of standout artists and living reggae legends.
Headlining this year's festival are three very influential and world-renowned reggae bands. Friday night's performance will feature The Abyssinians, a group that has been together since the late '60s. The vocal trio's heavenly harmonies, dark melodies and Rastafarian themes have been credited with defining reggae. In the early days of reggae, the music was upbeat and bright. With The Abyssinians' debut recordings, they slowed the beat and tried to use it to bring Rastafarian themes to Jamaica's airwaves. At first, their producers thought the music would never sell and did not release their recordings. Soon, the band formed its own record label and released a single that exploded onto the airwaves and changed the genre into what it is today.
On Saturday night, Third World will bring its genre-spanning reggae to the Pelican Park stage. This band has formed a love-hate relationship with the reggae-listening public. Its members are praised as ambassadors because they have played the world over, reached new audiences with their music and even opened for Bob Marley & The Wailers on their 1975 European Tour. Conversely, they are lamented as sell outs for intentionally crossing their music over various genres to help gain popularity. Either way you cut it, Third World must be heralded as one of the most enduring Jamaican bands of all time. The group was also one of the first bands to be self-contained, meaning that - unlike most bands of the time - they have a set band backing them at all times. The band also introduced the reggae world to funk and the synthesizer and popularized dub poetry, which led to the invention of the dancehall genre.
The festival's closing night will feature a performance by Culture. Originally called the African Disciples, this band was formed in 1976. With its debut album, Two Sevens Clash, it received critical acclaim for connecting Jamaica's history with its current troubles. Culture's music calls for the poor to rise up and fight the cultural oppression of the Anglo colonialists. However, Culture promotes only nonviolent resistance and, a reggae staple, smoking the ganja. Thanks to their success in their home country, Virgin Records picked up some of Culture's albums for re-release. Fans and critics alike hail Culture as a reliable force in the studio and on the stage.
"These are the most experienced reggae artists," says Omigie. "The Abyssinians were the forefathers of reggae. These (three bands) are really the pioneers of reggae. Sooner or later we might not be able to see these veterans again. It's quite impossible to have the three of them together."
Other festival performers who have received widespread attention include Zema, a performer with reportedly massive dreadlocks, and Fiona, a festival regular who has recently gained big-time reggae recognition and released an album, Wanna Make Love.
Also slated to perform are True Man Posse, the Axsumites and A Melting Pot, three Lafayette bands helping pepper the bill with a little South Louisiana flavor. Filling out the rest of the bill are True Spirits of Lake Charles, Elements of Baton Rouge, and Higher Heights, Irie Dawtas and Ronald Reggae, all hailing from the Crescent City.
"Lafayette is gonna experience what they never have. This is going to be a hell of a festival," raves Omigie.