House Of Riddim ADD

Report: Chiemsee Reggae Summer 2011

08/27/2011 by Björn Fehrensen

DAY ONE - AUGUST 26th 2011

Sun is shining the weather is sweet, make you wanna move your dancing feet. A real Chiemsee Reggae Summer this year. A festival Bob Marley would have loved to play at, because of a beautiful sky and a temperature of 36 degrees Celsius (exactly 96 degrees Fahrenheit – in the shade!). So it looked like a perfect combination of vibes and weather in front of the Bavarian alps. Some 25.000 patrons gathered at one of the biggest Reggae Festivals in Europe located in the deep south east of Germany. Artists like Jimmy Cliff, Ziggy Marley, Luciano, Patrice, only to name a few, joined at one of the last festivals of this year’s European festival season.

Iriepathie took the stage to open the 2011 edition of the Chiemsee Reggae Summer. The Austrian band which was founded by the two brothers "Professa" and "Syrix" did 30 shows in Europe this summer. They put the people into the right mood for "The Messenger".

Luciano entered the stage completely dressed in a desert camouflage style. This totally fits with the enormous hot temperature. The highly awarded Roots Reggae artist was backed by Irievibrations. After a couple of shows promoting his new Album "Rub a Dub Market", his performance on stage was still powerful and full of vibes. The title track of the Album was sung along by the crowd due to its anthem potential. Luciano performed a combination of Bob Marley's "Redemption Song" which ends in the track "Destiny". Luciano told Buju to stay strong. Buju Banton who is in prison, was moved from a jail in Florida to a jail in Mississippi just two weeks ago.
Luciano enjoyed the vibes so much that he did a "flic-flac" jump while his performance of "Who could it be". Because of a short timetable he only performed one encore.

After a short break the stage was well prepared for an upcoming artist: Leba, the daughter of Toots Hibert, performed a short collection of tracks from her debut Album which is called "Intoxicated" before her father climbed the stage. Starting with his classic tune "Pressure Drop" people instantly went crazy. The person who invented the term "Reggae" can easily conquer any crowd and he gave the people what they wanted. Songs like "54-46" and also the cover version of "Country Roads" were absolute crowd pleaser. After three encores Toots and the Maytals got off stage.

A warm wind blew through the festival area when Capleton performed songs like "That day will come" and "Jah Jah City". People nearly went mad as "King Shango" danced from one side to the other to show his fans that he's really a hot performer and a guarantee for a lot of vibes. After one encore Capelton finished his solid set.

Meanwhile more and more people were attending the main stage to see today’s Headliner "Patrice & the Supowers". He started his set with an acoustic version of "Everyday Good" which was chanted along by the fans. At this point the place was fully packed with people of younger ages.

You found the mix of all ages at the tent stage where Prezident Brown & U Brown performed a nice set. The few hundred people nearly had the same energy and vibes as the rest of the people who enjoyed Patrice.

Headlining Reggae act at the tent stage was Tippa Irie. Backed by Gentleman’s former “Far East Band”, the Saxon Sound DJ delivered to the joy and amusement of the crowd.

DAY TWO - AUGUST 27th 2011

After a very stormy night with rapidly fallen temperatures around 10 degrees Celsius, people woke up on a rainy morning. Only the line-up with acts like Lutan Fyah, Perfect or Ziggy Marley promised to be hot.

The Austrian Band Supervision opened the second day on the mainstage. Because of this really cold wind only a few people came out their tents and caravans.

Even Uwe Kaa & the One Drop Band had a hard fight against the conditions. Nevertheless the crowd was impressive considering the more than inhospitable weather condition with heavy rain and arctic temperatures.

When the retired soccer-player Lutan Fyah hit the stage, it was still raining, but the regular Chiemsee-Reggae massive got used to this situation very fast. The track „Inquity Worker Congregation“ which Lutan produced with Soundsystem Silly Walks (on which Gentleman started his career years ago) got the most
forward from the people. Backed by Europe´s hardest working Backing Band House of Riddim he bravely fought against the wind and the cold.

After a short break Perfect conquered the stage in such an colorful outfit that even Lee Perry might have gotten jealous. He ended his crazy and powerful show with his very own version at the „wipe out“ riddim. Lutan Fyah and Perfect didn´t play any more encore. Maybe of the strict timetable or the cold weather conditions.

Meanwhile, on the tent stage Munich´s upcoming Reggae-Empress Sara Lugo gave her well appreciated Chiemsee debut, introducing her album “What About Love”. A nice bunch of people enjoyed it very much when Fiyah T hit the stage to join Sara for the opening song of her set.

Lee Perry, the president of the „IWF“ who pretends that he got his dubs from aliens, fist „chased the devil“ and later some „Crazy Baldheads“ out of the festival. In the 30th year of Bob Marley’s death, Lee „Scratch“ Perry did a few tracks which he produced with Bob Marley. „Inspector Gadget“, a song about a French cartoon series ended up in some dubbing. With a jazz version of „Out the wire” he finished hit set after 90 minutes.

New people dropped in from the camping ground to see Ziggy Marley. The son of Bob Marley opened his show with his hit „Tomorrow people“. „Is This love“ made the crowed clap their hands and enjoy themselves. „Look who´s dancing“ and „Love is my religion“ were the favorites of the audience. Ziggy didn´t care about the weather. He finished his show with „Jamming“ tune of his father in a very nice style.

Now the people where ready for the headliner of that day: Mono & Nikitaman. Mono & Nikitaman and the Chiemsee Reggae Summer is a very special love affair. They performed for the sixth consecutive time, making their way from an early slot at the tent stage to be the headliner on a Saturday night. Like in previous years M&N turned the whole festival ground which was absolutely packed into one big party. After 90 minutes of pure energy no one felt cold anymore. Only a little bit sad perhaps as Chiemsee’s 2012 edition will have to do without “Mr. & Mrs. Chiemsee”. So see ya inna 2013, M&N!

DAY THREE - AUGUST 28th 2011

After arctic conditions on Saturday, luckily the sun was back. Not as warm as on Friday but very pleasant. The people were in a good mood to dance and jump around to the Sunday opener The Real McCoy.

Raggabund almost filled the whole place with patrons who absolutely enjoyed this powerful show and were able to sing along almost every song. Their social commentary was well appreciated as was the power of their performance.

As replacement for Mr.Vegas it was now Junior Kelly`s turn to entertain the crowd which he did well. Although he only had a fraction of Raggabund’s audience he delivered his set professionally to the enjoyment of the massive.

At the tent stage one mainly found the older fans. Jamaica Papa Curvin, an icon in the German Reggae scene, spread a good load of vibes. A heavy bass intro let even the people outside of the tent stage know that a real legend was playing. Even technical problems with the microphone were solved easily so that the crowd didn`t realize it.

Lots of people enjoyed themselves on the huge festival ground, sitting around on blankets to catch the vibes and sunbeams. Meanwhile Clueso attended on the main stage to promote his new album. With a nice melodic set he guided the people through the sunset. It began to cool down again.

With Linval Thompson, who was coming directly from the Reggaeville Weekender in Dortmund, a true veteran in Reggae music climbed the tent stage. He began his career at the age of twenty. Working as a producer for artists like Eek a Mouse, Barrington Levy and many others he is responsible for a lot of anthems but he also has his own hits like „Jah Jah dreader than dread“ or „Cool down your temper“. He only had to to sing one note and the people immediately started to move and dance. „Jamaican Collie“ was the crowd’s favorite of his set.

When headliner Jimmy Cliff entered the main stage people were tired after three long days but still there were enough energy and vibes left to celebrate this living legend. Tracks like „Wild World“ or „Reggae Night“ were chanted along by the audience. Instead of „Vietnam“, Jimmy Cliff switched the title to „Afghanistan“ to point out to the current situation there. With songs like „Many Rivers to cross“, „The harder they come“ and „Beautiful people“ Cliff finished his powerful and overwhelming performance.

A nice and peaceful ending of this year’s Chiemsee Reggae Summer.