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Saturday, March 27, 2004
Da Reggay Mon
We don’t wanna wait in vain, anticipating the biggest reggae fest as it turns nine today. Butch Reyes checks out what’s brewing beneath the dreadlocks.
“Ang main gyud na concern namu para karung festival is that maka tukar tanan,” begins Budoy, Marabiles, frontman of homegrown band Jr. Kilat and one of the organizers of the 9th Bob Marley Festival.
This year’s festival (tonight at the Rated 10 Grill, across the San Carlos Seminary) will feature more than twenty reggae bands. With the resurgence of dancehall reggae into the mainstream, local reggae acts have taken to exploring the whole gamut of reggae music; from the lilting syncopation of rocksteady, to the dub, from roots and culture, and grounation chants.
This genre of music has become so ingrained into the local urban milieu that when Tropical Depression, the Philippines’ premier reggae band, came to Cebu for the 2001 celebration, they promptly christened the metropolis the “Reggae Capital of the Philippines.” There is no other reggae festival that can compare to Cebu’s --- and that’s putting it mildly. This annual event may be a long way from becoming a Sinulog, but Cebu can say with confidence that it is the only reggae festival being celebrated annually in the Philippines.
The local genesis of reggae music scene began with the college students who started playing it in small events and pocket concerts. Budoy recalls that the traditional stomping grounds of legendary reggae acts like Raw Belief and Last Leaf, among others, were the campus grounds of UP College - Cebu and the USC - Talamban Campus saying that, “Ang reggae, nagsugod sa middle class, sa mga students. So karun, bisan ang upper ug lower class, kusog-kusog gyud ang reggae music. Rooted na gyud diri sa Cebu, ang reggae music, rooted na gyud ang reggae culture. Alegre gani kaayo kay bisan ang mga showband, mutukar na ug reggae kay mao na ma’y kusog.”
The current crop of reggae acts has grown to more since the genesis of the annual festival. Bands like Herbs, Bambu Spliff, Jr. Kilat, Budbrowniz and their fellow artists have taken the vibe and the scene to new heights both in musicality and originality.
Harambe Society, Inc., a cultural organization composed of reggae artists and enthusiasts not only organizes the annual fest, but also acts as a mother organization for the bands to converge. “Expect twelve hours of music,” smiles Budoy. “Basta, lingaw.”
Budoy and his fellow organizers are hopeful that this year’s festival will succeed not just in commemorating Marley’s music and life, but also help in promoting reggae music and the dissemination of the core values embedded in the music and the culture that it thrives in. Throwing his yellow bag over his shoulder, Budoy takes his leave, saying that he has to check on something for the fest. And that was that. Da reggay mon has left de building.
(March 27, 2004 issue)
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