Montreal International Reggae Festival 2013

Pete Douglas from the Live Wire Show (Saturdays, 9-10 am on CJLO) reviews the 10th anniversary of the Montreal International Reggae Festival.

Canada has some of the world's most renowned sound engineers, but there are some that are clearly lost when it comes to certain genres of music, for example: world beat. 

Reggae music has a pulse that must be felt to really be enjoyed at an outdoor event such as the Montreal International Reggae Festival (MIRF). I noticed on the first two nights of the festival that most of the artists spent a great deal of their time trying to get the backline sound engineer to adjust the mix of the band on stage. So one can take it that, if the sound on stage was not to the liking of the musicians, then what came out of the mix on the front line was, "Reggae Lite".

I was listening to a live broadcast of the festival in my car on my way to the event, and I could not believe what I was hearing. My first thought was that it's a live broadcast, so the sound was coming directly from the mixing board, but upon my arrival at the festival, I discovered that on the very last day of the festival they finally had the correct mix that was required all along for an outdoor festival. 

From the press release that was sent out to the media by the promoters of the festival, 2013 was one of its best years, with close to ten thousand in attendance for the three-day festival. In view it was not, however, one of its best line up of artists over the ten-year period of the festival (to the best of my recollection, I may have missed a couple). One of the best festivals to me that I have ever attended was the night Gregory Isaac finished his set and a fireworks display started on the other side of the river. 

The Friday night session clearly belonged to the first family of reggae, Morgan Heritage. Although one could sense their frustration on stage because of the mix, they delivered a set that had all in attendance grooving. I liked their new approach on stage. Instead of coming on stage and doing the hits from a great catalog, they were engaging with their on-stage antics.

Shaggy was the man on Saturday night. Maybe it's because I am more familiar with his music, but Bennie Man did nothing as a closing act that made me want to write home about. Bennie did his thing, and the crowd was into it in the beginning, but they seem to have gotten bored as his set went on. Shaggy went into his bag of tricks as a seasoned entertainer and I was impressed, seeing that it was my first time seeing both him live on stage.

Kes the Band was cheated with an early evening set. The crowd in attendance on Saturday came out in numbers because of them. Again the sound did not do any justice to the band. They are a Soca band, but from where I stood, the lead vocalist was trying his best to get the crowd into it, but once again, the soundperson at the mixing board, defeated the purpose. 

Before I go into the final day of the event, a Montreal band called Inword was the runaway hit of the festival. But then again that's my personal view. I have played their album Purify time after time and I just like what I am hearing for a local band. The song "A Gain" off their new album is a well-written song.

I missed another great Montreal artist, Jah Cutta live on stage, but he gave me a great interview anyway. Again another artist that was on too early in the afternoon.

Having seen Freddy McGregor a million and nine times, the tenth edition on the MIRF clearly belonged to the man Cocoa Tea. He not only had those in attendance dancing and singing to his hits and the cover songs that he did, but for a veteran, his voice does not seem to have lost even a quaver note. His presence on stage was so spell binding that I started practising my bass guitar again (well, that feeling lasted for a week). His band was well rehearsed and so tight on stage that not even the wind could pass through. His song choices were just the right ones for the festival, and he was rather engaging with the audience. I have seen many reggae acts from the likes of Peter Tosh, Jacob "Killer" Miller & the Inner Circle Band, and Culture, but I must confess that Cocoa Tea has been one of the best live acts that I have seen in a long time.

My only beef with this year's edition of the festival is that, too much time was given to the DJs between the acts. A couple of the artists were clearly out of their element, and please train your sound engineers to acquaint themselves with the different genres of music, especially world beat. Also, the hosts of some of the shows may be big in other parts of the world, but Montrealers don't always connect with them.

It is said that the road to success is a never ending journey, and it was nice to witness the highs of the tenth edition of the MIRF, because I have seen many of the lows. They are well on their way in making the festival a great success.