Raggamuffin Festival @Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide(02/02/11)

Sat 5th Feb, 2011 in Gig Reviews

Since 2008, the Raggamuffin Festival has been the premier travelling reggae and roots festival. With artists including Ziggy Marley, UB40 and Eddy Grant having graced the line-up over the years, Raggamuffin has earned a reputation for bringing out some pretty special performances. Since its inception in 2008, Raggamuffin has travelled annually through Australia and New Zealand, but has skipped Adelaide every year until 2011.

The crowd inside the Thebby were already getting down to the reggae/funk beats being spun by MC and intermission DJ Nino Brown, and although there wasn’t a massive gathering inside the actual venue, the atmosphere in the foyer and outside the venue was definitely buzzing. People were out in official merch, as well as just clothing sporting the signature green, gold and red of the Rastafari. As I looked around at all the Bob Marley-printed t-shirts walking around, it wasn’t long before Ky-mani Marley, the son of the legendary musician, took to the stage. The similarities between Marley and his father were at times scary, especially when the former chose to pay tribute to his father’s legacy by performing No Woman, No Cry and Redemption Song, both to massive applause. It wasn’t just a Bob Marley tribute set, though. Ky-mani and his band performed an hour-long set of original songs, which, while evoking traditional reggae sounds, also explored a fusion of dancehall, hip-hop and even alt rock. Impressive. As the festival opener, Ky-mani Marley didn’t disappoint.

After a 30 minute intermission (at which point, people filtered out for more drinks/spliffs), the stage was readied for the next act, who also shared close ties with the late Bob – The Original Wailers. Although the band only features the none of the actual Wailers, only backing musicians/vocalists Al Anderson and Junior Marvin having been part of Bob Marley & The Wailers, the band brought that old school reggae/funk feel to their performance. As expected, it was clear that the crowd wanted to hear mostly Bob Marley songs. The band acknowledged this many times during their set, but made sure that their setlist was diverse. Playing songs from their new album Miracle, as well as Marley tracks, including Buffalo Soldier and Exodus, The Original Wailers made sure that their own original material was brought across from Kingston as well.

I snuck a peek at the setlist stuck up on the sound desk and was surprised to see that Adelaide wasn’t getting New Zealand afrobeat/funk group The Black Seeds, Jamaican artist Sean Paul or local reggae act The Red Eyes on the line-up, though they had been posted as being so. Whether this was just an “Adelaide being exempted” thing, or the artists had pulled out of the whole tour, it was a disappointing loss.

Third up was Jamaican-British artist and renowned ladies man Maxi Priest. By this point, the crowd had built up considerably and the female contingent were readying themselves for Maxi’s soulful fusion of reggae and RnB. Joined by his son Marvin Priest and British hip-hop artist Beniton, Priest’s set was definitely one of the standout sets of the festival. A set charged with high energy, hip gyration and sexy tunes made the crowd go wild – with Maxi and co performing hits such as Close To You, the well-know cover of Wild World, as well as Marvin’s performance of Childhood from the 2007 album Refused. The only act so far to have both intro and outro music (a mashup of modern hip-hop tracks including Fiddy’s Ayo Technology & Amerie’s Take Control), Maxi Priest brought a professional and slick set to Ragamuffin. It was obvious that they were loving every moment of it.

Three acts down and we are at the business end of the night, when reggae legend Jimmy Cliff enters the stage, resplendent in yellow, wearing a scarf bearing the Rastafari colours and a black cap. It’s hard to describe the crowd’s reaction to Cliff’s presence. Between the whoops over Cliff’s still extraordinary vocals and the hollers over his dance moves, it was clear that the audience was completely enthralled by him. You Can Get It If You Really Want It, I Can See Clearly Now and Many Rivers To Cross were accompanied by mass crowd sing-a-longs as well as a dance lesson in some Jamaican moves, courtesy of the band. Probably my favourite moment was Cliff’s rendition of Hakuna Matata, from The Lion King. Completely in his element, Cliff danced his way across the stage as if he wasn’t in his sixties. As he left the stage, the drummer for Maxi Priest, who’d been standing next to me, watching Cliff, uttered that this had been one of Jimmy’s best performances ever.

Generally when I’ve been to gigs at the Thebby, there’s always been a significant audio imbalance, causing whichever performance to be littered with audio issues. But with Raggamuffin, this didn’t seem to be the case. The stage crews were very efficient and took their time with each individual setup. There were a few points during the day where the vocals experience some feedback issues, but they were quickly fixed on spot. For the final stage setup, I noticed that more instruments were being brought on stage and almost squashed together in a tight space. Ultimately, by the time it had been set up, I felt like I was at a headlining show, rather than a festival.

It was 8:45pm when the lights dimmed and intro music started up for the Queen of RnB, Mary J Blige. Dressed in a white singlet, waist belt, leopard-print tights and boots, Blige strutted and danced her way through her set, battling the heat which had built up inside. To say the least, this lady is most definitely a seasoned performer. With two backup dancers, Blige not only danced and sung, but also spat some rhymes without missing a beat or seemingly take a breath. A set full of soul and hip-hop tracks spanning her successful career, Mary J Blige drew and held the attention of nearly everybody in the crowd, minus those who were too stoned or too busy grinding up on some other guy/girl.

The Raggamuffin Festival is one that is generally skipped over Adelaide, I’m assuming, because there may not be a large reggae following here. Hopefully, after seeing the attendance rate and the reaction to the acts tonight, the organisers decide to take the risk again and bring the show to town next year. It’s in its own niche, and people will pay.