Smile! 2014: meagre turnout for a lovely festival

Every inch of space on the grounds was utilised. The big tent for the live gigs on one side, the Peace stage and food stalls on the other. Due to the compactness of the grounds and the abundance of sounds, it was difficult to find a place to rest your ears. Another consequence was that the deep bass grooves of the Love stage, where the lovely sound of Black Pearl was posted, sometimes disturbed the performances in the big tent. On that main stage we witnessed the final twenty minutes of Iron Ites. For the time being it was their last performance because of the persistent vocal cord problems of singer Benoitte Kiangana Mupatshi. However, the audience didn't notice anything of this, because she was standing on stage full of confidence and lived up to the festival's name with her infectious smile. It was still pretty quiet in the tent, but those who were present fully enjoyed it.  We especially remember the strong 'Power Of Creation' and the lovely 'Zimbabwe (Open Up Your Gates)'. Hopefully it'll all turn out well with Benoitte's voice, because this is a band we want to see a lot more of.

After Iron Ites there was enough time to go and explore the Peace stage, where Fornication Hi-Fi stood for a very crisp sound. No CDs or mp3s here. Fans of ska and rocksteady definitely prefer vinyl. Unfortunately, apart from Oldies But Rudies  (from Spain) and Precious Oldies (from France), we didn't hear anything of interest in this tent, but the enthusiastic  reactions of the crowd were testament in itself and when we walked about on the grounds or were sitting at one of the long tables, we only heard positive sounds from the Peace tent.

Long live King Johnny!

We concentrated primarily on the live shows and went to see part of One Root's performance. These guys had won the European Reggae Contest under a different moniker, Sunrockers. At first they struggled with some technical hitches, but luckily these were soon solved, so we could thoroughly  enjoy the singer's high falsetto, which was used to full effect in the cover of Junior Murvin's 'Police And Thieves'. Again there were hardly any spectators in the gigantic tent. Needless to say that this was detrimental to the atmosphere. The Spanish Upsttemians were a bit more fortunate in that a lot of people had come from the Peace tent to the big stage, which immediately resulted in a far better  ambience. The band played mainly instrumental ska and rocksteady, featuring a prominent Hammond keyboard and a brass section with a horn that managed to get the crowd going, in particular the Doc Martens sporting section.

The vibes were also good for the often hilarious show of Johnny Den Artiest. The king of Flemish reggae could once again rely on his mad sidekick L'Etran Jay and the best backing band in the country. Drummer Radics had rushed in straight from the airport and had to take his place forthwith, but that was no problem at all. King Johnny performed a few golden oldies like opener 'Wie Got Er Mee (met de mannen van de reggae op stap)', the very appropriate 'Tijd Dat 't Zomer Wordt' and 'Smokkelar Op Mijne Velo', which got a heavenly dub version. In between all those classics he also put in some new songs like 'Annabella' (ik moet a gewoon iet vertellen maar ik weet niet hoe) on the tones of Ken Boothe's 'Atribella', including an impressive trumpet solo by Kristoes.

Big up Unlisted Fanatic 

After a short break Asham was again on stage, now without the horn section, to back up Verse Ital, the winner of the Benelux Reggae Contest for MCs. Unfortunately, because of the brief intermission, a lot of people had left for one of the other stages. We were especially impressed by the tall rasta's strong voice and conscious lyrics, the highlight being new tune 'Want No Part'. An instant hit, entirely in line with the roots music that is now being made by young Jamaican artists like Protoje, Chronixx and Kabaka Pyramid. As far as we're concerned, Unlisted Fanatic was the absolute top of the bill of this new festival, so we made our way to the Mirror Tent, where he was playing the final songs of his set, all his own productions and they were used to full effect thanks to the three speaker towers that Black Pearl had set up for this evening. Martin gladly accepted the applause after the closing dub plate of Sugar Minott.

After that, Black Pearl and Missing Link took over with an amazing roots selection. It hurt when we had to leave, but then again you cannot let a performance by Mr. Rocksteady pass you by. When we arrived in the half filled tent, the Homegrown Band just took to the stage and on the tones of 'Speak Softly Love' Ken Boothe also appeared, loudly applauded by the crowd. He immediately launched into 'This Is Rocksteady'. His voice is not as high as it used to be, but he can still carry a tune and has stood the test of time. Ken Boothe told the audience that this was his second time in Belgium, and that's probably correct because since his last gig in the Vaartkapoen (Brussels, 2006) we don't remember him on any other Belgian stage. Once more the sixty-six-year-old surprised us with his swift dance steps. Mr. Rocksteady sang an excellent selection of old hits ('Crying Over You', 'The Train Is Coming' and 'I Don't Want To See You Cry') and exactly one new song ('New World Order').

The Homegrown Band played tight and the hardworking Guillaume 'Stepper' Briard was outstanding on saxophone  and backing vocals, and together with the trombonist provided 'When I Fall In Love' with some marvellous horn playing. 'Silver Words' brought back some peace, but at the same time it also raised some questions with your correspondent. The song was released in 1972 by Sixto Rodriguez on his second and final studio album. An album that hardly sold a copy and a singer that remained largely unknown with the greater public until the 2012 documentary 'Searching For Sugarman'. One way or another, his music must have reached Jamaica, because in 1973 Ken Boothe recorded his version of 'Silver Words' and later on Dennis Brown also covered it. Next time I have to remember to ask Ken Boothe about it!

With love , from Ken Boothe 

'There's only one language and that's music, a language spoken by everybody, no matter what their origin.'  That was Ken Boothe's message throughout the entire performance, a message that he reinforced by singing his tunes with full passion. He was visibly enjoying the multitude of youngsters listening to music that was made long before they were even born. As is so often the case, the best was kept until the end of the show. Ken Boothe closed his performance with the lovely 'Speak Softly Love', with a star part for the horns, and the rousing 'Artibella', in which the crowd sang along at full volume. Regrettably, some individuals deemed it necessary to claim their moment in the spotlight by climbing on stage. A nasty experience for the artist, but luckily Ken Boothe was professional enough to cope with it and he treated the audience to one more encore: the wonderful 'Everything I Own''. In short, this was a first-class performance with only one minor snag: the all too frequent silent parts that somehow slowed down the rhythm of the show.

The transition to the heavy dancehall force of Ward 21 (& Marcy Chin) we found hard to digest and it took quite a while for the four mics to be fine-tuned. After a couple of remarks to the sound technician, it eventually turned out right and the enthusiasm in front of and on the stage increased. When the smoke machine finally did what it was supposed to, the dynamic show could really take off. 'Garisson' made the tent explode for the first time and the amusing 'Spot The J' took care of the rest.

However, we could definitely do with some peace and quiet, and that's exactly what we found in the Mirror Tent, where Young Warrior played every tune we could have wished for. Johnny Clarke ('None Shall Escape The Judgement'), Prince Far I, Yabby You ('Deliver Me From My Enemies'), Augustus Pablo, Burning Spear ('Jah No Dead'), Dennis Brown ('Promised Land'), … they were all played, usually in several versions, while Young Warrior was all the time standing behind the control towers with the same focussed expression as his dad. Totally immersed by the music, as if in a trance. He played a varied selection, even making place for Luciano, Sizzla ('Trod Mount Zion') and Morgan Heritage ('Black Man's Paradise'). A set that for us constituted the perfect end to a long day. We thought the first edition of Smile was more than successful. Tight organisation (all performances started exactly on time), only a few minor flaws from which they can only learn and smiling faces everywhere. Smile! Hopefully it'll get a sequel in 2015, and then preferably with a bigger crowd.