Fat Guys On ...

The body is sore. The skin is hot to the touch, pink like lobster and soon-to-be pealing. Reggae weekend is over.

The Fat Guys and Jeff had a good time, capped off on Saturday night with the performance of Sizzla, a reggae God of massive proportions — according to the skinny genius.

Overall, final impressions are that the festival was exceedingly well-run this year, that the music and sound were excellent, and the vibe in general was pleasant. Good job to People Productions for putting on this event.

As someone being previously uninspired by reggae music in general (James), I feel like I now have an appreciation for it. My tastes run more toward early Ska, but there is much to be appreciated in current reggae catalogues. My biggest surprise was how close reggae is to soul.

A slideshow will be posted shortly to the Times-Standard homepage, with photos taken by Jeff. Check it out and come back here to let us know what you think.

Posted by James Faulk at 01:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Fat Guys wake up groggy this morning, after a late night spent taking in good music. But logistically, the trip has turned a bit sour — James misplaced the propane, so no camp stove for coffee or other prepared meals. Alas!

But we have managed to capture video and photos of the festival, a couple of which I show you now. My favorite so far? Beres Hammond — a little bit of a throwback to old school ska, rude boy days.

I've told Chris and Jeff — and even a couple of passer-by party-goers — so far that reggae is not my thing, so i have to bear repeated questions of, "Do you even think this is cool?" So far, I've been pleasantly surprised by the quality of the music and atmosphere. This is a very well-ordered temporary community.

Posted by James Faulk at 08:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Blue King Brown, Australia's "live urban roots crew" killed it Friday afternoon. Reggae with their own flavor, which new reggae bands need to stand out. A lot of jams sounded like classic Doors with the reggae undertones.

Singer Natalie Paapaa's vocals were the perfect addition to make our kick off at Reggae Rising a positive one.

Rocking second act of the day. We'll be back with more soon.

Posted by James Faulk at 03:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We're here! And so are a lot of other people. All reports are that so far the traffic has been light, due to a change in this year's set up — people have been allowed to arrive as of Thursday, and the end result is a much more tame traffic snarl.

Beyond that, we have our tent set up, the first beers have been drained and we hear the call of reggae music up over the hill. We're fixin' to go get some pictures, and some video, which we will post in the early evening. Check back for a vicarious reggae experience.

And the staff has been very accommodating. Smiles everywhere dozens of people making sure everyone has what they need. Maybe they should have reggae festivals all the time and people would probably get a long a lot better in the world. And no, we haven't smoked any weed.

Posted by James Faulk at 02:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A pot. Soda, beer, bread and bologna. A lawn chair. A sleeping bag. One big tent, and a half-eaten bag of pretzels.

This is the inventory for the big reggae excursion. It's a low-budget affair — everything is when you work at a newspaper — but the three travelers are well-prepared for a fun weekend in the post-apocalyptic universe of reggae rising.

We're about half an hour from setting out down U.S. Highway 101. We'll check back in once we arrive . Stay tuned!

Posted by James Faulk at 10:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)