Reggae Sumfest 2007 in Montego Bay at Jamaica Tours, Guides and Vacations

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Reggae Sumfest 2007 in Montego Bay

Filed under Jamaica, Jamaica Adventures, Jamaica Music, Jamaica Nightlife, Reggae Concerts, Things to do in Jamaica

Aug 8

So as you can see the blog posting slowed down some much as I expected it would for now. We’ve been busy taking in all there is to see around Negril and really immersing ourselves in the local community. We’re making friends and hanging out with lots of Jamaicans in the area and having as real good time of it. We’ve done some traveling around some and made it over to Montego Bay (Mobay to locals) for the 2007 Reggae Sumfest which featured an awesome lineup as far as I was concerned. We got to see some great musicians perform and I was most excited to see LL Cool J, Shaggy and Buju Banton on the same evening.

Friday nights concert turned out to be a moving experience and watching old school acts like LL Cool J and local mainstays like Morgan Heritage entertain the Jamaica crowd was loads of fun. LL put on a great show and after 20 years I was finally able to hear him sing “I Need Love” live. It was not quite a dream come true but definitely worth the experience. I’ve been a fan of his since he started and have much love and respect for his innovation and longevity. LL stands for Ladys Love Cool James and it sure was the case at Sumfest. The ladies most certainly love him and he had a crowd of them tossing themselves up before him. Morgan Heritage offered up a great show with some thought provoking lyrics and a somewhat political message for the pre elections crowd. Elections in Jamaica are serious stuff and people getting shot before them is not uncommon. Morgan Heritage has some meaningful lyrics in their music and the heavy influence of the Rasta culture is obvious. Select members joined Buju for a heartfelt closing to a great show and you can really feel how much they are loved by locals.

Shaggy has been a Jamaican favorite for years and the man puts on a great show for the crowd. His music is fun and his songs bring everyone to there feet. Big Hits like “It Wasn’t Me” and “Shorty” play well for locals and dancing and signing along with everyone was too much fun for all of us. By this time in the evening most people we’re worn down and shot out but still kicking and things we’re really grooving. I came to realize Shaggys’ real talent is his voice and he does not sing most or all of his songs. He has a lot of help but still puts out a great show.

The highlight of my evening and my trip to Jamaica so far was seeing Buju Banton play live in Jamaica. I’ve been a fan ever since the first time I played “Til Shiloh” all the way through and his music has grown stronger to me the more connected I become to Jamaica. He’s a visionary with a real sense of wa’ gwaan in Jamaica. Listening to the crowd sing to him as he opened up “Untold Stories” for us was possibly the most moving experience I have ever had a concert. I was actually brought to tears as a few thousand of us stood and sang what seems a obvious crowd favorite. It was moving to me to see my personal favorite matched up to that of so many locals as we all sang the entire song to Buju. It wasn’t until two weeks later that I took a walk down into the ghettos of Kingston and found even more meaning in the lyrics of that particular song. The concert got even more important to me as time has passed. It was an awesome experience and if you ever get the chance to see Buju in Jamaica I suggest you jump on it.

Jamaica is a music lovers paradise with live music pumping from just about every bar and club on the island. You can hear music at all hours ofthe day and night and just walking down the streets of Jamaica is a musical experience. There are lots more shows to talk about and I’ll do my best to start posting some more soon come mon.

More pictures from Reggae Sumfest 2007

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Tagged as: Jamaica Adventures, Jamaica Music, Jamaica Nightlife, Reggae Concerts, Things to do in Jamaica

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