REGGAE RUNNINGS - 8 April 2009

By Jesse I


Big ups to Sista Itations and whole Pressure Drop family, who celebrated three years of dances earlier this month at Laundry. If you’re a fan of old-school dancehall, you really couldn’t ask for a better party - here’s wishing them many more!

This weekend brings another birthday bashment, as More Fire celebrates 8 years this Saturday night at Miss Libertine. From it’s inception at Deep 11 in April 2001, through recent years at Brown Alley, More Fire has maintained a reputation as Australia’s leading reggae night, providing a blueprint for similar nights all over the country. To mark the occasion, resident sound Chant Down will be joined by original Fire Sound MC Damajah, and the extended family - Troublemaker, Andy Ites, Sista Itations, Bellyas, Night Nurse, and Tony Bashment - plus very special guest Paradox, straight outta Auckland. Straight reggae and dancehall vibes until the early morning, plus party treats and nuff surprises!

This Friday 10th April it’s all about Cote d'Ivoire reggae superstar Alpha Blondy, who plays Billboards backed by his 12-piece band The Solar System. A tireless campaigner for peace and unity, the multilingual Alpha Blondy has been known to sing to Muslim audiences in Hebrew and sing in Arabic to Israelis. Fans of classic roots reggae would be well advised not to miss this show!

The big news in Jamaica in the last few weeks has been the violent dispute between singer Luciano and engineer Freckles, stemming from financial matters relating to Luciano’s Australian tour of last year. Some time after returning to the island, Freckles reportedly confronted Luciano about money owing from the tour. In the ensuring altercation, Freckles was reportedly beaten and required stitches for a deep cut on his hand. He retaliated in late February, beating Luciano with a metal bar at a Kingston petrol station. As if this (and the subsequent death threats from both sides) wasn’t enough, Luciano’s house was the site of a police shoot out two weeks ago, with three policemen injured, and “most wanted” gunman Andrew Senior killed. At the time of writing, Luciano has been charged with harbouring a fugitive, and will face the charges in court on April 9.

Triple R radio presenter Ranking Yoni has wrapped up his reggae program Top Ranking in order to spend an extended period travelling overseas. He has made many contributions to the local reggae scene, so respect is due - guidance and protection pon your travels! Sadly Triple R has chosen not to replace the program with another reggae show, so once again PBS is really the only place to hear reggae music across Melbourne on the FM dial.

Coming up... Basement Sessions takes place again on Friday 17th April, featuring the Heartical Hi-Fi and full crew at the Night Owl bar. If you haven’t checked one of these parties out yet, you haven’t experienced the mightiest bass drop in town. Saturday 26th April is Pressure Drop at Laundry once again, with Sista Itations joined by guest MC Chan from Trinidad, plus Troublemaker, Jesse Jahmal, Maruza, and Ali MC. Friday 1st May sees the return of "I Love Dancehall" to First Floor, details to be announced. Finally, Ring The Alarm continues every Thursday at Laundry.