Sweet vibes in Bree @ Afro Latino Festival

Reggae.be would have had a reporter on the spot but due to medical reasons he could not make it. Luckily there were a few friendly ladies on the spot who wanted to share their impressions with us, and our house photographer Rik de Blick was there as well to provide us with some nice pictures. We are sorry for the incomplete report! We don't have a report about Sunday, where, amongst others, Jamaram, Katchafire and Maxi Priest without doubt took care of the good vibes. Maybe we'll get some extra additions through the forum? Feel free to share!

On Friday, despite the rain, the exotic atmosphere could be found on the covered stages. The salsa atmosphere was very nearby and the mood was set. But we were here for the reggae of course. Due to heavy traffic we missed the start of the festival and the soundsystems, but we were on time for the new dancehallstar in Jamaica: Popcaan. "The Raving King", could be seen live this year on the main stage of Afro-Latino, with the French Dub Akomband as backing band.

The square before the main stage was only filled halfway. Could this be because of the rainy weather or are "Poppy" and his brother (!) Versatile not yet famous enough in our country? Nevertheless, they did their best to entertain us. Not enough people knew the music well enough to sing along, although all of his hits were there… 'Party shot', 'Hot Grabba', 'Only man she want', 'Clarks', and so on. He also sang his newest song 'Unruly Rave'. We read in the Jamaican (gossip) press that there is something going on between Popcaan and Vybz Kartel and therefore there were plenty of shoutouts to Vybz Kartel... Although we were forbidden to ask anything about it in the interview afterwards!

All in all, it was a fun concert for the Popcaan fans.

On Saturday the doors only opened at 14.45, causing Sugar Charlie to play his tunes for an empty Island Jam for three quarters of an hour. Because of the beautiful weather there were only a few people dancing and everyone was just hanging around outside. At 16:00 Raggamuffin Whiteman took over for DJ Rakka because the latter couldn't make it on time, and he caused some early vibes. Cromanty managed to lift up the mood from the first track onwards with some recent and exciting dancehallhits. And then the party had truly started. People were having fun, they were singing and dancing to multiple Bob Marley medleys. Raggamuffin Whiteman, Silverbullet, Reggaebash and Heavy Hammer were awesome! One dancehallhit after the other. The coulourful Island Jam went completely out of its mind to an half an hour lasting Hop mix. Next year, the organization should maybe consider putting up a bigger tent for the soundsystems.

Meanwhile on the main stage were Meta & The Cornerstones. He was already a guest at Afro Latino in 2011 and meanwhile has released his second album 'Ancient Power'. There are a few well-known artists on this album like Damian Marley, Capleton and U-Roy. The New Yorker Senegalese has built up a nice fanbase and brings sturdy rootsreggae. The audience responded very well and sang enthusiastically along with Meta and his band, it was a nice show.

On the Pampero Stage, Romain Virgo was 20 minutes late. This probably had something to do with the long expected Prince Royce, who did an exclusive show at Afro-Latino and therefore went a little over time. Loud screams by hordes of fangirls and a tent filled to the brim showed the popularity of this so called "god child of the Latin". But once he had finished, the Pampero tent filled up again anyway, waiting for Romain. The beloved singer sang one singalong song after the other, it was a very energetic show full of hits. Too bad the sound was not good… The boxes weren't tuned properly and the sound of the mike was far too quiet. The sound engineer didn't seem to know how to handle it, but the audience didn't care. The show was madness.

In general there was a super fun and relaxed atmosphere on the pasture with many tasty food stands, colorful shops and a true kids village with trampolines, makeup, sand pits and bouncy castles. There was enough parking space in the neighborhood of the festival so there was easy access to the festival, and the bad weather was taken into account too. But there was also a lot of police at the entrance of the festival. A police dog sniffed at everyone who entered and people were taken out of the crowd to give their herbs and make an official report, so of course that was not so irie when entering.

Sadly enough we have no reporter from Reggae.be at the Afro-Latino festival on Sunday because of the germs. We are convinced that this day was a new top day because of the nice weather and the fun line-up, and we hope that everyone enjoyed it. Big up to the organization!