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SummerJam 2023 - Festival Report | PART I

06/30/2023 by Gardy Stein

WATCH: PHOTOS | INTERVIEWS | LIVE STREAMS | VIBES & IMPRESSIONS

The Spirit of Peace is the motto for this Summerjam's 36^th edition – and indeed, peace is the most urgent goal we have to achieve in this time. Globally, to allow every human being to grow up in a peaceful environment, and to enable a modus operandi in which all world leaders can sit on a round table, respectfully talking about the problems we have to solve. Individually, to achieve the peace of mind necessary to unfold our full potential and contribute to the positive development of our surroundings. While the former might be a bit beyond our reach, the latter can be easily achieved: all you need is the will to put yourself at ease, the motivation to truly be at peace with the unique person you are. It helps when you are around a bunch of wonderful, like-minded people, enjoying fine food and celebrating the music you love in a beautiful natural setting… conditions which are all met this weekend in Cologne!

As always, Reggaeville will provide you with a coverage of the whos and whats and hows of the days ahead, so tune in to our social media channels for exciting reels and behind-the-scenes stories, click through the photo gallery and follow the report right here to witness The Spirit of Peace unfurling.

Thursday, June 29th 2023 - Vibez Village

For the first time ever, I enter the festival grounds on bike. Passing the camping areas, I see people arriving from all corners of the world, carrying their equipment to a place they find suitable, happily chatting while setting up their tents. The mild evening air mingles with barbecue smells and the aroma of other, greener goods consumed, and music vibrates all over this scenery. My destination is the festival island, to take in the calm before the storm for a moment, as only the stagehands, technicians and vendors are busy there, preparing for the big opening tomorrow. A wooden peace sign dominates the Feel Good Area, which has been decorated with colorful ribbons and benches (a special shout-out to the ones who decorate the area with such loving care!), and over at the Red Stage, a sound check is in full swing. Ready we ready!

My next destination is P2, a huge parking lot where the Vibez Village has been installed once more. As in the previous years, the Riddim Magazine and Team Summerjam have created a sweet chill spot where early birds can gather and kick off the festival with a Hula-Hoop-Workshop, festival make-up and sounds by DJ Densen. By the time Team Reggaeville reaches the place, he is just finishing his set, handing it over to Andrew Murphy. "It's the first time that I'm on this stage!", the designated Mr. Summerjam cheerfully greets the gathering crowd, and indeed, he is a legendary festival act that usually can be seen on one of the big stages on the island. But this smaller, more intimate setting is just perfect for the acoustic session he now begins to deliver, taking us through a wild mix of cover songs like Imagine, Country Roads, Legalize It, Night Nurse and No Woman No Cry, to which the audience sings along. DJ Dommi Fyah (Boneshaker Sound) asks for a big round of applause after this opening, starting his set with a track by Andrew's former band Rhapsody. He then plays for another hour or so, setting the mood right with Reggae, Soca, Dancehall and a clear message to right extremists: "Nazis raus!", a song by German artist Nosliw.

At 9:50pm, the Riddim All Stars take over for a session of Vinyl Thursdays. DJs Michael Plempe and Selector Hille Soundquake bring us conscious tunes to which those present dance the night away – peacefully, and full of anticipation for the days to come. A light rain starts to fall, helping to clear the air and settle the dust. Liquid sunshine blessing us!

As we will collect some motivational quotes from artists and crews over the weekend, let us start with Andrew Murphy tonight. Asked what his motivation is to do what he does, he replies: "My motivation is that I get to meet a lot of people in the music business, and music is such a wide ranging thing... music is life, music is love, music is one of the things that can help us save this world. That's why I will continue to play music forever!"

Friday, June 30^th 2023

12:10pm, PRESS AREA
The rain of the night has left the morning air fresh and humid, and with a sun shining from a blue sky spotted with occasional clouds, it's perfect festival weather for this first day of the musical celebration ahead. On both stages, the bands who'll perform likkle more are doing soundchecks, and Team Reggaeville sets up their workstation in the Press Area – our open-air office for the next three days! At 2pm sharp, the gates open and let in the flood of eager visitors that has assembled in front of the two main entrances. It's a special moment when thousands of souls enter the island, bringing with them such a wealth of expectations, styles and emotions… a physical manifestation of the diversity of people the various artists attract!

2:31pm, RED STAGE
Perfectly on time, the first act of the Red Stage is announced by Andrew Murphy: Inti! The Memoria singer introduces his own music and band which consists of his brother Chaski on drums, Rafael on bass, Maxi on keys and Leo on guitar, while Dario and Cedric are responsible for the sound. "Loyalty, I treat my friends and family like royalty!" is the mood he greets the crowd with, accompanied by a deep rootsy Reggae beat, and a loud cheer is proof that many are here already. Inti continues with Music, a livication to this… well… thing? Entity? Energy? Frequency? Spirit! that this weekend is all about. "Big up all artists who ever performed on this stage!" Inti says, before starting the track Open Your Eyes, a feature with Akeem Garrison that calls for "shelter for the homeless, food for the hungry and water for the thirsty". While Akeem can't be here live, featured artist Ras Python, who made Cologne his home, joins Inti on the track Times Like These.
3:02pm, GREEN STAGE
As the program runs parallel, I have to skip part of each artist's show in order not to miss the other. Over at the sun-lit Green Stage, Samora has made her appearance, dressed to impress and with an energy that expresses the joy of being on stage once more. Her band of seven (Leonardo Degli Antoni on drums, Philipp Bühlmann on bass, Roman Haller on keys, Stefan Bernhard on trumpet, Christof Fahrni on trombone, Aline Anne Meyer on backing vocals and Res Staudenmann on guitar) provide a rocky soundtrack to which she delivers songs such as Queen Of My Space, the empowering anthem Precious and Reggae I'm In Love, to which she invites the audience to sing along. "Summerjam, we say NO to negativity!" is the message she brings across, and, judging by the smiling faces all around, it falls on fertile ground.

3:50pm, RED STAGE
The female power continues over at Stage Red with Naomi Cowan. Wearing a white winter coat, she starts her set with Jahmali's El Shaddai, backed by a classic band setup of four (drums: Gregory Patace, guitar & vocals: Pablo Minoli Dominguez, bass: Kay Hasselbaink, keys: Rekesh Dukaloo). Before she reaches the end of the song, she takes off the coat, and rocks the crowd with the recently released Kingston Traffic. On the screen behind her, a video provides the corresponding visuals (shout out to all the technicians involved in making that happen!), and Naomi keeps up a constant interaction with the crowd throughout the show. "Summerjam, I came here all the way from Kingston, Jamaica, and I couldn't bring my backing singers, but you can sing with me, right?" she says while the bubbling notes of The Jamaican's Ba Ba Boom fill the air. Yes, Summerjam can! For her piece Paradise Plum, she parts the crowd in two, those to her right singing "Paradise Plum", and those to her left, "Silence!" Everyone is part of the musical experience here!

4:24pm, GREEN STAGE
Okay, these are the guys with the palm trees! About two hours ago, I saw the six members of Il Civetto unload their van and was curious where all those plants would go. They are a decorative addition to the stage now, and the band just arrived at their last tune Rio-Reiser-Platz, to which a lady behind me sings along at the top of her voice. Give thanks for fans like these!

Genre-wise, they are a cross-over band leaning more to Balkan Pop than Reggae, but that's one of the nice outcomes of a line-up as diverse as the Summerjam's – you get introduced to new music for which the next act, Edo Saiya, qualifies as well (at least for me). He introduces featured artist Tiavo on the track Cinema, and the whole stage is filled with fog.

5:32pm, RIDDIM CORNER
The Riddim Tent is packed. Pete Lily and Ellen Köhlings organized a Meet & Greet for many of the artists performing at Summerjam, and right now it's Inti and Chaski's turn to talk to their fans. A lady walks in, hugs them and lifts up her shirt to show a tattoo on her back, the quote of a Memoria song surrounded by the outline of the African continent. The brothers are baffled, take pictures and show them to their fellow band members – certainly, this fan has made their day!

On my way back to the press area, I meet Samora, her husband/ guitarist/ manager Res Staudenmann, and their adorable daughter of 8 months. Taking the opportunity to ask Samora about her motivation, here's what she said: "The motivation that brought me here is the willpower to live from my talent. I so much believe that if you have a talent and you can make a living out of it, you should really try your best to do that. And this is one of the main motor within me that motivated me to come here. I'm happy, I wanted to be here ten years ago, and now here I am!"

5:47pm, RED STAGE
Double surprise! The first one is that La Pegatina won't be able to perform today and Querbeat will play their slot instead. The second is how damn good this band is! With 13 musicians, the stage is full, and the band's focus on brass brings a bright, joyful mood to the place, especially with some fun interactions like the two trombonists doing a little choreo with their instruments. Singer Jojo asks the crowd to form a big mosh pit, and next to the one right in front of the stage, there are several smaller ones forming, one right where I stand. "I have a message for you," Jojo then continues, "Life is a party!", and some crazy jumping ensues. As the cameras capture images of the dancing and laughing crowd, the band decides to come closer to the fun. "You know what, let us come and join you!" they say, and at least ten of them leave the stage and dive into the audience, who makes way and cheers this spontaneous move. Definitely one of today's highlights!

6:58pm, GREEN STAGE
The next highlight has already invaded the Green Stage. Drummer Andy, guitarist Alex and DJ Creek Mix are the trio that form the musical basis to which Blaiz Fayah drops his mad performance. He is a vocal artist par excellence, switching from high-pitched harmony singing to a low growl when he touches on the Raggamuffin parts. Kaboom! Additional niceness is contributed by Vicky and El Angel, two dancers who entered the stage with illuminated LED-masks and gloves, later picking up flaming torches and changing their outfit at least twice during this swift show.

"Big up all long time Reggae, Dancehall and Soca fans!" Blaiz calls out, then expressing his gratitude for being at Summerjam for the first time ever. His songs are extremely danceable stuff, and the crowd immediately reacts to tunes like Ten Outta Ten, Take It Easy or Tikitak from his new album Mad Ting. Mad Ting! Behind the musicians, the decoration is simple but effective: LED-rings of different sizes seem to float through the air, their light changing color and intensity. "What time is it?" the singer asks DJ Creek Mix, who answers "It's wine o'clock!" The dancers make clear what that means, and their acrobatic moves are awarded with a big forward from the crowd.

7:16 pm, RED STAGE
The field here is packed. No wonder, with a big artist like Alborosie and his Shengen Clan in the place, introducing their brand-new album Destiny. Of course they also play hits like Rocky Road or Herbalist, and drop a fun version of Ring The Alarm, to which Pupa Albo grabs a surprised Inti who delivers a spontaneous freestyle. "Unity over segregation, good over evil!" A bit after that, he introduces another young artist: Jaz Elise! Together they sing Faith, a track released on Albo's new album, and I decide that's the perfect moment to get some food. While waiting in line for that, Alborosie finishes his set and the audience voice their approval, loud! Oh, and in case his jacket reminds you of something: yes, it was made by the same designer who crafted one for Bob Marley, and he wore it on the One Love Peace Concert back in 1978 - another connection to The Spirit Of Peace we are celebrating here, 45 years later!

8:20pm, GREEN STAGE
"If you are feeling Blacko's energy, let me hear you say Yaya Keke!" Black Sherif clearly holds the audience's attention over here. The artist from the Ashanti Region is well known by most of those present, Ghana flags are flying high over the crowd and virtually everyone claps to the beat of Kwaku The Traveller, which Blacko sings acapella. A goosebump moment of African pride!

8:41pm,RED STAGE
Both stage fields are filled to maximum capacity right now, including the pathways between the two, and it's not easy to reach the Red Stage in time for Protoje's show, so I can't tell you how the first songs (among them I&I, Flames, Criminal and Wrong Side Of The Law) went. Good, most likely, as the spirits are high when we reach and Proto starts his track This Is Not A Marijuana Song with the words "If you think Maryjane should be legal, say legal!" His In.Digg.Nation band (Lamont Savory and Namdi Robinson on guitar, Donald Dennis on bass, Paris on keys, Peter Samaru on drums as well as Justine Rookwood and Shanice Phillips on backing vocals) play tight, and the subsequent Deliverance, released on his album In Search Of Lost Time, adds a new dimension to the singer's catalogue. His older pieces are better known, though, as the sing-along choir to Rasta Love proves. "Big up to Ky-Mani Marley anywhere in the world!" Proto sends a shout-out to the artist who had to cancel his summer tour and thus won't be able to perform at Summerjam this year (the updated program announces Turbulence instead).

My personal favorite is Switch It Up, and even though featured artist Koffee is not here in person, Proto brings her spirit across by singing her part. "Big up everyone, give thanks for coming out today - so many familiar faces in the crowd! I wanna say hi to my mother who is watching right now, and to my daughter… Hi Yani!" (the crowd joins in the greetings, and Proto continues): "Big up everyone watching the Livestream right now, we haffi fight to keep Reggae alive!" Closing his set with Like Royalty, Who Knows and Kingston Be Wise, the loud roar of approval from the audience is the best answer an artist can wish for.

9:25pm, BACKSTAGE / FEEL GOOD AREA
On the Green Stage, German rapper Nina Chuba is playing right now to a huge crowd, consisting mostly of teenage girls who only came to see her, and to hear and sing along to songs from her debut album Glas which was released earlier this year.

As I see no chance to squeeze through the tightly packed mass of people, I try to reach the scene from the back, but get held up by an encounter with Inti and Alborosie, who just exchange a hug and say goodbye to each other. I take the opportunity to ask Inti for his motivational quote: "The thing that motivates me is that I wake up and I have the breath of life. Because once we have life, and that's every day, we have time to use it and we have the power to create and manifest whatever we want to. So, if you tell yourself every day: you are powerful, you can create whatever you want, you can become who you want to become, and you can do what you want to do, then that's a blessing."

Proceeding to the Feel Good Area, where the beautiful decorations and colorful lights floating on the lake unfold their full splendor in the falling darkness, we find a Dancehall party in full swing. The sound corner set up by Youth Rebels Sound is blasting hit after hit with DJs Niko Nice and Sino Royal, igniting a dancing fever that spills over to Samora, who is posing for a photo shoot at the neighboring Riddim tent.

10:35pm, RED STAGE
The characteristic voice of Jan Delay announces that he just started his set with his band, Disko No. 1: "Wir machen das klar, wir machen das klar!" (German for 'We make it happen'). The artist keeps up a constant interaction with the crowd in German (all of which I can't translate), basically asking the people if they are ready to party and, a little later in the show, telling them that they are special. "I was here in 2001 for the first time, and when I arrived, I taped over the last bar of the last 'm' in the Summerjam logo – so it said SummerJan!" The ensuing laughter mingles with the intro to Ahnma, a track well known in German mainstream, and then Jan Delay stresses his Reggae roots with the subsequent Irgendwie, Irgendwo, Irgendwann ('Somehow, somewhere, some time'). After tracks like Oh Johnny, Vergiftet and Abschlussball, a live "freeze game" with the whole band (Hanno Busch on guitar, Ali Busse on bass, Jonas "Jones" Landerschier and Johnny Arzberger on keys, Lieven Las Vegas on sax, Philipp Kacza on trumpet, Johnny Johnson on trombone, and Jost Nickel on drums - chapeau, guys!) and a solo for the ladies (Melissa Audrey, Mimi Demissie and Binta Hübener), Jan Delay and Disko No. 1 wave their goodbyes and leave the stage. The audience is not ready to let them go though, and after lengthy shouts of "Zugabe" ('encore'), they come back. "My Reggae case is empty now, but I found something in my Rock-The-House case!" Jan says, and the final track St. Pauli makes it clear that Summerjam knows how to party indeed!

11:15pm, GREEN STAGE
Turning to the last act on the Green Stage for today, I find myself in a Dancehall pandemonium called Charly Black, backed by a band of four. The Jamaican artist heats up the place with hits like Wining Vixen, You're Perfect and Wine And Kotch. During the latter, he calls dancer Sasha from Jamaica on stage, who performs jumps and splits that almost hurt just by watching. "Summerjam, do you love Jamaican music?" Yes, we do! Charly then asks for a dance partner, and a young lady heeds the call, positioning herself next to the singer. "First let me get one thing clear. Are you older than 19 years of age? And are you ready to do this?" Charly inquires, and the girl nods yes. "Ok, then please forget your boyfriend for two minutes, can you do this?", and then some sexy movements seal the temporary union.

1:29am, DANCEHALL ARENA
As if the day didn't have enough input already, the young night is enthusiastically celebrated over at the Dancehall Area. A big crowd has assembled here and moves to the beats both PowPow Movement and Jugglerz provide. Invited as special guest, Bay-C takes up the mic and delivers in quick succession a few T.O.K. hits (Stand Firm among them) and some of his own pieces, including Straight Outta Portmore and Zenna. For the next piece, he introduces fellow Jamaican, singer & dancer Crazy Hype, and together they mash up the place. Energy, energy, energy! For me, this first festival day is over half an hour before the official curfew at 4am is in effect, as I have a lot to digest in a few hours of blessed sleep. What was your highlight of this Friday? Write it in the comments below.