Reggae Radio and Concert Photos by Reggae MAX

Rootz Underground played the Soul Rebellion 2009 charity concert on March 24 at The Jungle in Negril Jamaica to benefit schools in Westmoreland Parish as part of the Soul Rebellion Buy A Brick program for school construction.

Soul Rebellion is gaining some respect after three solid years of successful charity reggae concerts and this year BET was there to record the event as part of a special they are doing to showcase the great work done by this charity group of primarily foreign citizens.

The evening concert was held after a day of celebrations and fund raising on the beach. The Tuesday Night concert was a success and Rootz Underground put on a spirited and energetic performance with over an hour of high grade reggae and roots inspired music.

Rootz Underground is originally from Kingston Jamaica but they spend lots of time in America these days. It was a bit of a homecoming for the band since their performance at Reggae Sumfest 2008 and hard through the entire performance.

Download the entire Rootz Underground concert and listen at home like you were there live.

Download Rootz Underground Live at the Jungle

I had the unique opportunity to stand on stage with Beenie Man during his entire show in rural Whitehouse Jamaica and it easily one of the most energetic reggae dancehall concerts I have been to in Jamaica. "The Doctor" as he is known to his fans is a Jamaican dancehall icon and when Beenie Man puts on a show he puts on a show. The over capacity crowd was gathered on a cricket field and there were at least 1500 to 2000 people in attendance in rural Jamaica where they don't get many major headline acts to put on a show.

The people of Whitehouse Jamaica came out in force and the place was jamming all night long. Beenie belted out his top dancehall hits of the past 15 years and the crowd sucked up every second of it they could. The show was non stop and Jamaicans partied it up for hours with the King of Dancehall as he strutted from one side of that small stage to the other.

Things were so informal that just about anyone ended up on stage after long and at one point there was an actual fight on stage that Beenie Man himself had to breakup. It was hot and the crowd was pumped up. I guess tempers flared but Beenie put things to rest fast and the party went on without a hitch.

It was a show to remember for me and the people of Whitehouse.

Beenie Man Photo Gallery

Beenie Man Videos

Beenie Man at Whitehouse Part 1

Beenie Man at Whitehouse Part

Beres Hammond is a Reggae legend born in 1955 in the province of St. Mary in Annotto Bay, Jamaica and his Saturday night performance at Reggae Sumfest was the stuff of legends. Beres belted out his top hits and the crowd could not get enough of the Reggae Superstar with the smoky voice of a crooner.

Beres is the king of Lovers Rocks and his performance is an easy listening kinda reggae with a soulful beat and the lyrics of love and romance. I brought a trio of ladies from Negril with me to this show as they were all excited to see Beres and Tarrus perform on the same night. The ladies love his hits and crowd favorites like "Putting Up Resistance" had just about the entire crowd of 32,000 people singing along word for word as we all enjoyed a special moment in time when everyone sings away the worries of the day.

The final night of Reggae Sumfest 2008 was a wet party with a rainstorm pouring all day long had the entire field slippery with mud. The rain eventually stopped and everyone was able to enjoy the show but standing out in the crowd as I ways for this performance was a great experience for me and the friends who joined me for the last show. You could feel the powerful vibe of a crowd favorite and he fact everyone was feeling the music at the same time was awesome.

It was an inspirational performance by the entire band as we were treated a special band preview which highlighted the many talents that travel the world with the reggae legend. It's obvious that he has a great backing band and being to sample the talents of each player as he went through them was a unique experience.

Beres Hammond put on the best performance of the night with Tarrus running a close second. I think Beres had a few more fans in the older more experience crowd and the power of everyone singing together was more intense in my opinion.

Tarrus Riley is a phenomenal artist and his performance at Reggae Sumfest fell down on us like the light rain that drenched the crowd but could never run them out. The music was great and the stage show was awesome with a huge backup band and singers for a number of tunes.

Tarrus has reached greatness with his latest album Parables on VP Records and this show was his. It was obvious from the beginning that he was the crowd favorite with a lot of Tarrus Riley fans in the venue to support him. As he rang out some of his hit singles including Lions Paw and She's Royal the crowd sand along as the rain dropped on us in what seemed like a picture perfect moment if you had an underwater camera and a line of sight through the oversize umbrellas everyone had hoisted in the air.

Jah Cure had a great year in 2008 and his performance at Reggae Sunfest 2008 may well have been the peak. Jah Cure is not known for his stage shows and many had low expectations for him to be able to put on a strong performance with so much pressure.

Cure took the stage and showed them what he could do. He's not an explosive stage performer but he did a wicked job of keeping the crowd moving and his singing is up to the task. I thought Jah Cure put on an excellent show and I was left wanting for more.

His music resonates well with us ladies and he sure had his share of excited women in the crowd. I could hear all sorts of offers being lobbed at him throughout the night but the best one was the Jamaican girl who followed him to the parking lot after the whole show. She just kept walking round kinda in a daze it seemed mumbling "its you me love cure. its you me love."

Jah Cure Photos

Jah Cure Videos

Akon put on a good show at International Night for Reggae Sumfest 2008 unless of course you have seen his show before then it's kinda more of the same. He had some Mohawked DJ on stage for most of set and it got boring for a minute.

Akon is hot with the ladies and he loves to give them what they want. He's done the strip tease act here before and it went over well anyway. Akon did some crowdsuring with the help of the biggest security guard I ever saw and actually walked on top of the crowd from the stage to the lighting rig in the middle of the field where he proceeded to climb up and sing to us from 30 feet up in the air.

The performance was so broken up with noise and long waits by his promoters tossing out free clothing from his new line of club wear that it felt drawn out and boring. Maybe had I gotten a shirt I would have felt better about things.