Montreal International Reggae Festival 2012 – DJ Chocolate Review

This is the second or third MIRF under its new management. They’ve learned from their mistakes in the last couple of years, and also lucked out this year with better weather. They did better this year in a lot of ways though. When I finally got in on the Saturday after a bit of a mix up with media passes, I was treated to DJ Whitebwoy working the crowd the same way he does here in his T-Dot kingdom at the Guvernment Complex (Koolhaus, the Orange Room, the Sky Bar, the Guvernment, etc..). Actually, I think he had to work harder there than he does here, but he had people singing along and I was thrilled to have made it before Popcaan, because the schedule had Whitebwoy playing in the intermission before him. So I was mildly surprised when the first artist after the RuffKut band went on was Chis Martin, though from a programming standpoint, putting the only singer on before the DJs made perfect sense.

Christoper Martin was great! Producer Robert Livingston and his Kington JA Big Yard stable (yep, Shaggy, Rayvon etc…) were well-represented by this smooth-voiced youngster. He started off his set with his song The Vibe Is Right on the little-played but fun ‘n’ bass-bouncing Street Bullies Riddim, my absolute favourite riddim from Big Yard since the antithetic Church Heathen a few years ago.  It was a good song choice, and as usual, the combo of a party-rocking chune and the sound of a live band on the big soundsystem after the DJs on tracks was enough to get the crowd going, and the people in the crowd seemed to wake up a bit. Martin sang some covers, some lovers rock, and generally made the ladies swoon and sing along. Of course, he saved his biggest tune, “Don’t let me Cheat on My Girlfriend” for his encore. His pregnant girlfriend, Cecile, was nowhere near to watch the Montreal women shouting their approval. Sadly, neither was Kip Rich, who as usual, has the funniest piece on that riddim.

Popcaan went on next and….well, he was okay. His trademark “Yeee-owww” was pretty cool to hear live, but seemed hardly worthy of Popcaan and Demarco’ beef over its genesis. He was content to have the crowd sing the end of his sentences in his big tunes, which I know is supposed to be great because it makes for a partipatory, interactive experience that shows how much the crowd knows your music, but with him, it just came across as laziness.

The argument that I’d put forth in the car about the increased musicality of his dancehall music making it more appealing to mainstream urban music listeners is perhaps better credited to his producers than him. I’ve heard people touting him as the next Vybz Kartel, but I’m gonna say now that that just isn’t possible.  Vybz Kartel’s flow is incomparable, even when he’s voicing questionable content,which he usually is, but what he does with his voice makes that garbage sound good.

Popcaan’s music may be popular, but now I think his hype has been more about timing (ie with Kartel now in jail) than skill. He did the big tunes, and yes, he did Party Shat. I enjoyed it. I’d say there were about 5000-6000 other people who did too. There were a bunch of people who stood around looking disapproving. I wondered why they’d bothered coming to the dancehall night of the MIRF, then I realized, oh yes, the All-Weekend passes.

What did I exepct from dancehall night? Those disapproving looks from some of the Rases in the audience got even more disapproving as Konshens took the stage. Perhaps some people thought that with such a name, he might write conscious music, but it quickly became apparent that the PG13 part of the night was now over. I had to fight the instinct to cover my 3-year-old’s eyes and ears as he mimed and sang about choking a woman to orgasm with a willing volunteer from the sudience, not once but twice!

That said, his voice was stronger than Popcaan’s and he exchanged winks and whoops with the audience, who clearly knew his music, sang along and begged him for an encore when he tried to get off stage after only 25 minutes. The sun had set, and the big women in the audience wanted more, his dark, intelligent humour and raw lyrics matched the vibes of the evening perfectly.

I found my rootsy self humming along that I too was “nuh scared a nuhbaddy” and quite enjoying it. That seemed like a good time to take the kids out, and big ups to MIRF for escalating their kids’ zone at the back to a little oasis of fun, with some truly talented face-painters, a bouncy castle and an exciting inflatable slide.

I know Sasco started with a wicked tune “Badmind People,” which we heard perfectly from the street as we walked away from theOldPort.Thousands of people strolled the boardwalk by the Old Port, less than 200 metres away from the MIRF, we walked with them by Bonsecours Market, passing market-stalls, food-trucks, jugglers and horse-drawn carts. It was a pretty cool walk, the 18th century architecture is staggeringly beautiful and hundreds of people were crowded near the entrance to the festival on benches and blankets in the grass, perfectly able to listen to the show and content not to watch it.

SUNDAY: The Sunday dawned a beautiful day. As is usual inMontreal, lazy mornings followed by huge meals meant a slow start, and I strolled into the Festival grounds in time for 4:20. Toronto’s Shalli represented, and sounded as good as she looked. Actually, the ever-energetic and chatty Jah Kettle also pleased the audience, which seemed a little more numerous in the afternoon than the day before.

Crowds were sadly sparse early, but quickly started to gather because again, the line-up promised Jamaican artists at 5:30. This didn’t happen. But the Hardcore Band played magnificently as always, backing Char David (formerly known as Iley Dread and/or Colin Levy), whose feet seem to be planted inToronto,MontrealandJamaica. That was actually a great segueway from the Canadian artists to the outernational artists.

Romain Virgo showed exactly how he won the Digicel Rising Star competition inJamaicaa few years ago when he hit the stage. It was awesome, this slim, short bredren in tight jeans walked shyly up onto the stage and this big, beauiful voice came through the speakers and people stopped talking to their friends and rushed to take pictures, cheer or whistle. Showtime.  Singing songs like Cyaan Sleep and Love Doctor, Who Feels It Knows It with the crowd singing along with almost every word,

Romain Virgo made me forget for a minute that he’s only 22. His album ‘The System” has been out for about a year, and it’s absolutely excellent. Pretty impressive for his short career, most of the songs on it are recognizeable because they’re on great riddims by established producers. Anyway, in ansolute contrast to the day before, the lyrics were trademark Virgo – conscious, uplifting and insightful social commentary.  The people who were disapproving the day before were happy, and by the time Romain Virgo was done, I’d say there were as many people there as the peak of the night before.

People were restless between Romain Virgo and Tarrus Riley. The hosts, speaking both English and French, promised just a short break, but it dragged on and on.  Tarrus Riley being the main musical reason I’d shlepped from Toronto to Montreal, I totallu admit being impatient.  MIRF does a good job highlighting selectors as well as artists, but that truly is a difficult timeslot for a DJ.

Little Thunder did ok, but everyone wanted to hear Tarrus. Little Thunder also seemed somewhat territorial, having lost on their hometurf to Rootsman at the Toronto-Montreal clash on the Friday night. Food and beer lineups were at the longest they’d been all weekend. Suddenly it looked like the MIRF of years ago, the large fair ground covered in people.  The Sunday crowd, there for Tarrus and Jimmy Cliff, was twice as large, cheery and completely multinational.

When Tarrus Riley started to sing from offstage, you could hear a pin drop. His opening choices, Buju’s “Not an Easy Road” and “Shaka Zulu Pickney” brought the crowd almost to a frenzy in the first three minutes. He hopped on stage, all in black with his locks tied tightly around his head, and every single song the man started to sing elicited calls for forwards from the audience. It didn’t matter whether he sang serious songs like “Backbiters” or love-y songs, the enthusiasm from the crowd never dimmed.

The entire audience (it seemed like) joined him for “Stay With You” and he worked the crowd like a band conductor, making the left and the right side of the onlookers sing harmony as well as the more call-and-response. He may well be one of the people I’ve seen come a long way quickest, in terms of development of stage presence relatively speedily. Having bolstered his confidence with several number One hits, Tarrus Riley is now completely at home on stage, making “conversation” with thousands at a time.

About half an hour in, Tarrus then allowed his backup singers to take center stage, and the MIRF audience gave the male backup singer who switched quick as lightning from D’Angelo-style crooning to Buju-like energy on an awesome cover of “Wanna Be Loved” almost stole the spotlight – till Mr. Riley took the mic right out of his hand and said “no, no. ‘Memba this. A my show, this.”  But he clearly enjoyed having the audience realize that the singers doing backing vocals were as skilled singers as any of the people who’d as yet taken the stage. One of them and the last sing sole, his bandleader, hornsman and main producer, Dean Fraser then also launched into “Not an Easy Road” alone on his saxophone, playing the lead vocal phrasing seamlessly on the sax, which garnered one of the biggest cheers of the night. And of course, Tarrus had all 10,000-12,000 people at the Old Port singing back-ups for him when he finally launched into “She’s Royal.”

To Be Continued…

DJ Chocolate