Romain Virgo ADD

Gracy's Bash 2024 - Festival Report

07/16/2024 by Gardy Stein

Quality over quantity! While many big festivals seem to follow the motto "the more the better" when booking their line-up, there are a few events who keep it small and intimate – a welcome deceleration and much more relaxing to visit. One of those is Gracy's Bash, taking place every July in the northernmost corner of Germany. Here, in a little town called Varel, is the home of Jamaican artist Sista Gracy and her husband, Diedel Klöver, who is famous for his scrap metal sculptures.

Many of the latter populate the park-like venue (there’s a huge turtle, an eagle, a lion’s face, a crocodile, penguins and an ostrich, among many others), and one of the first tasks upon arrival is checking for new additions. This year, it is a black leopard next to the main stage, shimmering mysteriously in the colorful lights that are just being tested. It's almost 6pm, guests arrive by the minute and Selector Taylor (Slin Rockaz), playing on the Acoustic Stage, fills the evening air with tunes like Buju's Hills And Valleys, Luciano's Sweep Over My Soul or Beres Hammond's She Loves Me Now.

The first act on the main Yard Stage is a German project from Dortmund called Schwarzpaul, named after founder and front singer Tim. His band consists of Hendrik Lensing (drums), Felix Alejandro Gutierrez (bass), Micha Seeland (guitar) and Julian Büsselberg (keys), the four of them now getting ready to play. Sista Gracy, straight out of the kitchen and still wearing her apron, welcomes the expectant audience, which has grown to almost 1,500, herself, wishing everyone a pleasant stay. When the first notes of the band drop, the dark clouds above release their drops as well, and unfortunately the rain continues falling throughout the band’s set. Many of the visitors are well prepared to counteract such conditions, however, and with colorful umbrellas and raincoats, they continue enjoying the music in front of the stage.

Next to tracks from their last album Messer Aus Holz ('Wooden Knives'), Schwarzpaul also present unreleased material such as the piece Glow (announced as "special livication to Gracy"), and they keep diving into some elaborated live dub parts which are a joy to listen. The sound of the band is phat, amazing, and next to their musical skills, it is the clever lyrics that captivate me: "Nobody knows what they love, everybody just knows what they hate", for example, from the song Freunde Sein ('Be Friends').

While they play their last tune You Are Beautiful, I meet Mellow Mark backstage, who is getting ready to perform on the Acoustic Stage. He tells me about his new project, saying that it will be less about the hype, that he thinks we "have to start building communities again, from the grassroots!" At the end of Schwarzpaul's set, the sky is opening up, the sun comes out and a rainbow appears. Mellow Mark takes over, commenting on the beautiful "rainbow country" we have assembled at today. He performs together with an artist called Ajani, who contributes keyboard and his vocals, and background singer Nouria. They present songs from Mark's 2017 album Nomade, but also new material, such as the single Sanitäta which was released just the day before the show. "Big up to each and every one who stayed despite the liquid sunshine. We are here together, and this moment will never come back! Happy Birthday to Gracy - who else has birthday today?" he then inquires, and shouts of "Me!", "My daughter!" and "Bernd!" answer him from the audience.

Starting at 8:30pm, Keishera almost echoes these words during her set, congratulating Gracy "for putting the community together like this", wishing her a happy birthday and dedicating a song called Beautiful Mind to her fellow Jamaican native. Having come all the way from Brooklyn to perform, Keishera is a fine addition to the line-up, a graceful performer with a powerful voice, backed by the wonderful Schwarzpaul band. It is their first time backing another artist, we later learn, and they do a great job, once more playing extended drum & bass soli during their cover of Dawn Penn's No No No.

After Keishera has waved her final good-bye, the crowd turns towards the Acoustic Stage once more, where Big Mama Sound is now in full swing, weaving some dubplates into their selection before playing the backing tracks for Singing Gold. Not everyone feels drawn to his mediocre vocal performance, though, and many visitors use the break to get some food (fresh outta Gracy's kitchen!), a drink (there's Red Stripe on sale!), or just sit down in grass or sand to chat with friends.

When night falls just after 10pm, virtually everyone present assembles for the main act of the night: Romain Virgo! Exactly one week ago, he graced the SummerJam stage with his band, and now they are here - my friend Queen Easy remarks how surreal it feels that an international artist like that performs "at her backyard", literally speaking. Jared Ansine (guitar), Jevaughn Latty (bass), Evad Campell and Rhoan Johnson (keys), Makiri Whyte (drums) as well as Janeel Mills and Tori Lattore (backing vocals) provide the sound for Virgo's creations, professionally presented by the singer and mixed by sound engineer Hasani "Snysh" Williams. Highlights of his set include the Toots cover 54-46 Was My Number, the dynamic We No Worry Bout Them, which has the front rows jumping, and his signature ladies’ tunes, of course, such as Soul Provider or Taking Me Home, which he plays during an extended encore.

It is almost midnight by now, and while Slin Rockaz Sound takes over once more, providing the backings for a showcase of Teacha Dee and featured artist Don Tippa, the Yard Stage is teeming with activity, getting ready for the musical celebration of Sista Gracy and the Yardie Crew. There are many musicians to be accommodated: Tom Bennecke and Sebastian Sturm (guitar), Diedel Klöver (bass), Hene Marheineke (drums), Catti Groth (sax) and Piet Abele (keys), as well as singer Gracy, of course, who starts with one of her own pieces, Comfortable.

She is then joined by Joel Kush aka KushArt, a Jamaican singer who is also a painter and sculptor, selling his artworks in the blue stall next to the Acoustic Stage, as well as Teacha Dee and Don Tippa. They kinda fill in for Dr. Ring Ding and Elin, who couldn’t make it today, and after they finish their song, the next generation of singers enters the stage, as on of Gracy's grandchildren takes over the mic. Sweetness! Together the band brings the evening to a beautiful, polyphonic close.

Big up to Gracy, Diedel and their team for making this cozy little festival happen every year! Big up to sound engineer Robert, who had the main stage under competent control. Big up to all the artists who shared their music with us, to all the visitors, of course, and to my dear colleagues HoRo and Eljer, who provided amazing pictures (see the galleries HERE)! A special shout-out goes to Tim Schwarzpaul, who blessed me with an awesome moment by showing me the “holy halls” of Diedel’s workshop, a creative space crammed with tools and raw materials. It’s here that the real magic happens and all his metal creations are born - you should definitely pass by for a visit in case you are in the area!