Iron Ites: higher hights @ Benelux Reggae Contest

The Benelux Reggae Contest, since last year an independent organization (and therefore no longer a partner of the European Reggae Contest), took the wise decision to let the finale take place in Antwerp, and no longer in Maastricht.  We had good times there but for most Belgians and Dutchmen, Maastricht is very far away.  Only the fans of the finalists took the effort to drive that far.  In Antwerp, the organization hoped to reach a broader audience, in which they quite succeeded for this first time, with an attendance that matched the attendance of the more famous names. 

That the standards were exceedingly high this year, especially now that there are participants from France and Germany, already became clear in the preselection.  A simple computer beat was not enough by far to entice the Benelux massive.  Originality and musical craftsmanship have determined the preliminaries more than ever, and we can only applaud this.  Pura Vida (winner 2008) and Sunrockers/One Root (2012) prove not to be survivors of the golden 70s, as they are scornfully sneered at in the dancehall scene, but they are contributors and innovators of a musical tradition that seems to gain more respect and recognition with every new generation.

This even applies to Rass Motivated & The Essence, the Rotterdam finalist who overwhelmed the audience in the Petrol with a spectacular new sound, impregnated with ragga, rock, hiphop en psychedelica.  The songs washed up and down, sometimes strictly drum & bass (in the old, Jamaican meaning of the word), then again apocalyptically trashing about, with heavy guitar chords, rumbling drums and searing hot keys.  The Essence had the best bass player of the evening (of the Netherlands?) in its ranks, not only riddimwise but also as leading musician, who gave the tracks extra energy and power.

Rass Motivated himself (Sherandel Maynard) was not always very intelligible but he sang, rapped and singjayed with the flair and confidence of the greatest, supported by an excellent backing vocalist.  And with the conscious lyrics of the true rastaman.  Rass Motivated & The Essence was without a doubt the most innovative act in the finale, a band that should be able to actually convince people outside of the reggae.

The French singer Tony Nephtali brought a fine band, and a singer that proved in a few solo passages that she could have been the front woman as well.  Again a musically varied set, with alternating French and English tunes, and a dominant role for the lead guitar.  The sound sometimes reminded of SOJA (Soldiers of Jah Army), certainly not a bad reference, albeit because Nephtali has a similar (rock) voice.  This band, too, colours outside the lines of the traditionally streamlined roots reggae and the younger dancehall style, but without impoverishing that breeding ground.

Iron Ites, founded in 2011, charmed us already last year in Park Spoor Noord, and has made some remarkable progress ever since.  On Friday, we saw a close, inspired band of musicians on the stage.  Benoîtte Kiangana Mupatshi (also one of the proud Sisters at Reggae Geel 2012) sang with the power and the confidence of the Empress she's become in the meantime, dressed like a radiant African queen in the grey European masses.

Iron Ites closed the set with 'Power of creation', a mighty, majestic song that would not look bad on the album by Jah9, that strong Jamaican woman, 'the new voice of reggae', according to Mutabaruka.  I went to bed with it, and I woke up with it (I mean the tune).  Already a Beljam classic, and a potential anthem for the worldwide massive. 

Earlier, the band had alternated the worn roots of songs like 'Power of creation' with fresh uptempo tunes.  The opener had a poppy One draw'-riddim, while 'Babylon must fall' was somewhere between the hit reggae by Eddy Grant and Marley's 'Crazy baldhead'.  Probably not what Benoîtte and her musicians had in mind when they created the songs, but a proof that those basic rhythms are stamped onto the collective (reggae) memory. 

The sound did not only vibrate in the (obliged) cover 'Guess who's coming to dinner', as in the best Taxi-productions by Sly & Robbie, with cool breaks, tasty chunks of dub and excellent brass blowers (two trumpets and a very jazzy saxophone).  Behind the buttons was Crucial Alphonso, who only had some trouble with the bass but otherwise knew perfectly how Iron Ites had to and wanted to sound: like a present day roots band with two blissful female vocalists, a fistful of fine songs and the consciousness to sing longer than so many other female singers.

Pura Vida, Wahwahsda (2011) , One Root and now Iron Ites: proud to be Beljam!