Spreading Love at Reggae Rise Up 2021

Written and Edited By Brendan McGinley

Four days of dusty festival feet, two years of waiting in angst and nothing but spreading the power of love to each and every person was the motif of Reggae Rise Up Florida this past weekend. Smiling faces from all over the country scuttled across the grounds of Vinoy Park in extreme eagerness to catch local and legendary musical acts, ranging from Resinated and Summer Survivors to Bob Marley’s offspring, Stephen and Damian. The stacked line up made it impossible to want to miss any of the acts on the bill, and with Sugarshack sprinkling some intimate pop up sets into the mix, it made a weekend well worth the two year wait. 

Thursday evening teased each attendee for the weekend that was about to ensue. The band Reefers opened things up with a quick but fun set, paving the way for Kash’d Out to have their fun. Their sound enriched with the addition of a horn section, something that really spiced up already great stoner anthems. JBoog brought island vibes to the stage and had the crowd swaying like palm trees in a Florida windstorm. If JBoog was the windstorm, then Stephen Marley must’ve been a hurricane due to the fact he had the entirety of Vinoy Park rocking. His energy blasted through the crowd, smacking them with smiles and of course a heady groove.

By the time Friday rolled around, everyone was pumped up and ready for the day ahead. St. Petersburg Local musician Ian Nelson greeted me to the grounds with a giant smile and an enthusiastic high five. “It doesn’t get much better than this,” He said, “This is beautiful.” The statement was veracious. Upon walking in, things were getting underway with vendors adding final touches to their tents, Tribal Seeds were doing sound check and already sounding great, and the line of people were eager to trample through Vinoy Park for another great day of music. Murmurs of anticipated acts filled the air with a constant buzz. Being back at Reggae Rise Up and around people and seeing smiling faces was a thing of beauty, but Adam St. Simons, Media Director of Reggae Rise Up told MusicMoveMe that it was more than just maintaining enthusiasm but more so about keeping the Reggae Rise Up community together over the two year hiatus. “Our customer support has literally driven this thing to where it’s at right now, our production team has shown up as they always do; as total rockstars. To make this all possible is something not a lot of people know about. It takes everyone here to make it the experience that it is.” All while mentioning the perseverance and resiliency of not only his team, but also the entire live music industry and the Reggae Rise Up community.

While strolling through the beautiful ocean of smiles on Friday, one smiling face belonged to Dan Kelly of Fortunate Youth, his glee could be felt and it was contagious. A quick conversation ensued about a previous run in while in California, but he was happy to be back in Florida at Reggae Rise Up and before long he was jaunting off to the VIP viewing deck for some more music. “Peace, love and humidity!” He said while mid jaunt. He wasn’t joking either, the infamous Florida humidity was in full force, but it did not deter fans from enjoying the day nor the weekend. The music was too good and the vibe was too strong. Ballyhoo! charged crowd with energy to make it through the evening, Fortunate Youth put on a great set while getting the crowd pumped for the rest of the evening. Tribal Seeds played to the setting sun and everything felt like it couldn’t get much better but then Bob Marley’s youngest son, Damian “Jr Gong” jumped up on stage. His set was intense and raw. The crowd of 15,000 could be heard screaming over the music, and mysticism came from the man’s mouth. Song after song was a hypnotic trance of reggae royalty. The bass cabinet blew like an air dryer and shook every molecule in my body, bringing me closer to the almighty Jah. I felt the loving embrace of music and felt connection with every human being that stepped foot within Vinoy Park that night.

Saturday morning was met with swollen knee caps and ankles twice the size as usual, but it did not stop me from stomping through the park for a third day, no matter how much pain was endured, besides by the time the music started, the pain was gone and in its place was a constant tempo pacing through my heart, but Saturday’s line up provided a very robust and vast choice of music, changing the pace up a bit through the likes of Tropico Blvd and even Jesse Royal who was forced to mix up the set when his band missed their flight and any chance of  a back track to sing to was stored on an overheating computer. Nonetheless, he put on a very intimate set, with his voice alone bringing the crowd to a pompous roar. Tropico Blvd, natives of St. Petersburg told MusicMoveMe about how they explore much more than the traditional reggae sound. “It’s a lot of Latin sounds and world beat, we really want to incorporate all of our versatile inspirations so we are always researching new sounds,” Said Audrey Short, front-woman of Tropico Blvd “Which means Sahara Desert blues and Zamrock.” She said, meanwhile taking note of her bandmates influences and how the band does not want to be chained down to a specific sound. Tropico Blvd’s sound matched well with Saturday’s sound with bands like HIRIE and SOJA that blend other genres into their reggae sound, but Saturday’s headliner, Slightly Stoopid, is no stranger to completely dismantling that line between genres, as the band began as punk rock band and morphed into more of a reggae band as the years went on. However the band didn’t forget their punk roots on Saturday night, they supplied a heavy dose of reggae but also punk rock, with great effect. Half the crowd could be seen banging their heads during the fast paced Stoopid songs. The band even brought out Chali 2na for an awesome cover of 50 Cent’s P-I-M-P. 2na’s voice was so deep that it rattled speakers and eardrums alike. When Saturday came to a close, as did the realization that the next day would be the last of the festival. 

Sunday started off with a thick layer of cloud hiding the Florida Sun making for a slightly cooler day than the rest, but the music was ever so hot. Summer Survivors kicked the day off with a second set, which sounded great. Lead singer Nate Davis stunned me with the power of his voice, I was told by Summer Survivors’ founding member, Paul King that Davis will unleash his inner Freddie Mercury and that wasn’t an understatement. Davis and his voice attained something special during that set, and his voice will stick with me for quite some time. As did Resinated with their snappy and upbeat sound. Kenny Mullins, frontman of Resinated passed off the Sativa Fever to the crowd and the only prescription was dancing. (And maybe some cowbell). With the two opening acts supplying the energy for the day, the crowd made its trek to and fro each stage for powerhouse acts like DUBBEST and Badfish, but one band that threw the energy into the stratosphere was The Movement. The set was magical with each song punching sound waves with exuberant force, which plastered smiles on every face. Iration who was initially on the bill, then was scratched off and surprised everyone who attended Tampa’s leg of the “Live from the Ride” tour by announcing that they will be at back in Florida at Reggae Rise Up. Micah Pueschel, frontman and singer of Iration told MusicMoveMe “That’s how things go sometimes, this [festival] was originally scheduled for a different date and with COVID things for postponed and pushed around and so we were able to play both the 311 show in Tampa and this one and we’re happy to be here.” Iration’s set put the crowd into gear by playing a range of songs from the band’s discography. After Iration finished their set, Dirty Heads were getting ready to play, so did the realization, this was the final set. The weekend was something magical and I was not ready to watch it all end.

It was a bittersweet set to end on, with my mind flashing back to not only the weekend but to past years at Reggae Rise Up and to the community that has helped bring the beautiful event to life. I couldn’t help but to think of how festival goers and staff were faced with two cancelations but they endured and marched onward with thunderous optimism toward showtime. Each hurdle was met with grace, the pay off was mesmerizing. The glue that bound it all together was love and the understanding that sometimes things don’t always go as planned, but with a bit of positivity, perseverance and passion, the show can resume.