Smile Indoor unites Beljam Massive with dub, ska, dancehall & riddims galore

Rarely have I witnessed such a sense of unity between all those Beljam communities. Going back and forth between the Peace room (ska & rocksteady), the Love room (roots & dub) and the Unity room (dancehall) you meet them all: friends of then and now, rastafari's and rude boys, club queens and chiro girls (youth movement), people from Wallonia, Brussels and Flanders (and the Netherlands), old men and shy teens. That's how diverse the Belgian reggae community is, and it was great to see it united in the Kissinger, the Antwerp pop-up club now located in the old Renault garage at the Italiëlei. 

Good to see that the festivities started well before midnight. In the Unity (hosted by Civalizee Foundation) with I&I Sound and Young Gun Superior, and in the Peace (host: Soulboyz vs Rudeboyz) and the excellent British ska band Pressure Tenants, the festival's only real live band. Formerly the accompanying band to Laurel Aitken, self-proclaimed 'godfather of ska', they like to call themselves the 'godsons of ska', which could be argued. The gentlemen played ska and rocksteady as if we were only halfway through the 60s. Unfortunately that includes the poor sound that was part of the deal back then, but shouldn't be a part of it in 2013. The wind instrument players looked like they came out of a box and the lead vocals never really shone through. But the Pressure Tenants made well up for that with musical craftsmanship and a nice selection of classics. From 'My boy lollypop' and 'The Whip' to 'Dancing Mood', 'I'm still in love with you' and Aitken's 'Sally Brown'. Pretty much everyone was skanking, and that continued when Pupa Mighty's Supa Power took over in the DJ booth. Featuring the ubiquitous l'Etran Jay, who was also to accompany General Levy later in the Unity and perform with his High Grade sound. The most versatile man in Beljam business. Fortunately, King Johnny wasn't on the performance list. 

The best sound system was to be found in the Love room, thanks to Ionyouth. A little after midnight Unlisted Fanatic and their guests took the stage: English singer Paul Fox, our own Collieman and Moonshine Horns (trumpet and sax, known from Asham and Bottle of Moonshine, the ska band who'll be presenting its first album on  14 December in Petrol). Fanatic played pretty much all tunes and dubs he's made over the past few years, and it is turning into a great collection. His last creation is a remix of an old Randy's riddim, recorded in the early 70s by the musicians who would later become Marley's Wailers. It's the dub of 'Oh Jah come now' (Senya), in its turn a version of Horace Andy's 'Please don't go'. Collieman wrote new lyrics for it and that is how an old track is able to charm a whole new audience 40 years after it was recorded. Also in a very heavy dub version. In addition, Collieman was the perfect second voice for Paul Fox, and Moonshine Horns added an extra dimension to the dubs. We've written it before: this company is not inferior to any foreign dub act, on the contrary. Since Unlisted Fanatic himself doesn't shy away from grabbing the mic once in a while, he manages to give his sets more flow and dash. Time to go abroad, we think.

Having the DJ's and MC's in the Love room on the floor, in between the people almost, had its charm but also its disadvantages. Pushy people happened to be in the way of the artists and even pushing against them, and it is also tricky to see the whole room and play the entire crowd. Mad Professor did get to be on the actual stage, even though his set wasn't more impressive than Unlisted Fanatic's. But we do understand that to attract a crowd, you want and have to have a big name.A small point of criticism in between: there were too few counters for vouchers and toilet bracelets.  Long queues are never fun, especially not indoor. There were enough seats at Mama Suzie, who long since has been serving her best Jamaican dishes. In the same room you could also buy Smile merchandise, and there was a record booth. Great idea again to keep these activities apart from the music.

For the party in the Unity room 'The Royal Sound' Civalizee Foundation had dug deep into the dub plate box. Happy to see Sista Flex again, selector King Jess and Buda in great shape. After a while we saw someone climbing the stage. 'Mr Lexx!' the audience proclaimed. We knew that the 90s dancehall star was in the country, but not that he was coming to Smile. Lexx' heavy voice immediately rocked the crowd, the tight riddims took care of the rest. Climax of the performance was 'Hold the line', Lexx' collaboration with Major Lazer. Super duper surprise!General Levy is a very welcome guest in Beljam. Being a survivor of the English jungle sound from the early 90s, he has a bunch of recognisable riddims and vocal tricks up his sleeve, enough to keep the atmosphere in the Unity room on a great level. But this man no longer manages to surprise and his gimmicks are starting to get old.

After about an hour General Levy finished with his biggest his 'Jungle is massive' and he almost immediately made room for Stylo-G and his DJ. Our expectations were high for this new talent from London. He scored three super hits in the past year ('Call me a yardie', 'Soundbwoy', 'Badd') and was in Beljam for the first time. The room was packed when he jumped on stage and sang the first sentences to 'Call me a yardie' as a teaser. But his voice wasn't sounding too well, and the riddims didn't convince the audience either. In the studio Stylo-G's voice can still be manipulated but live he didn't seem to be any better than an average club artist (for now). Having the ladies on stage whining but forgetting to sing well. 'Call me a yardie' managed to wake up the audience for a bit, people even sang along, and 'Badd' a remix (of great quality in the studio) of Sister Nancy's 'Bam Bam' was received enthusiastically. 

All in all it was mainly the sound systems of the Unity room who managed to entice the crowd. We've reported this before too: nobody knows Beljam Massive better than the Beljam sounds. Foreign names look nice on the poster and on record, but they rarely add anything to the show. The party lasted until 6 a.m. in the three rooms. Big up M (a.k.a. Mikey G), promoter of Smile, for this excellently organised and high-quality indoor festival, hopefully a taste of a first Smile festival in summer. We will miss him as the driving force behind Reggae.be but welcome an organiser who can bring reggae in Beljam to the next level.