Tarrus Riley Live - - - Berkeley, California

Tarrus Riley
(Photo Courtesy of Christafer Brown)

Date: Monday, July 26th
Venue: Shattuck Downlow
City: Berkeley, CA
Artist: Tarrus Riley

When I first heard there was a show scheduled for Tarrus Riley with full band, including the world famous Dean Fraser, I was a bit dissappointed in the choice of venue. I was pretty vocal about it too (no surprise there right?)The Shattuck Downlow lives up to it's name. "Downlow" as in it's pretty much a basement. I thought to myself, why would you book that venue for artists of that caliber? So with haste, and because of my love for Reggae Music, I bought my ticket and attended the show.

Here's my review:
Early juggling by Dj Serg set the vibe right, but only to be dulled by the opening act. I'm sorry but I didn't catch the name of the San Francisco band, nor did I go out of my way to find out as I was not impressed. The 2nd act for the night was a real treat, a local Bay Area Band named Raspire. They had a nice reggae/dancehall vibe with a little hip-hop sprinkled in the mix. I can honestly say the lead singer Calico has great stage presence that could actually put some current dancehall artists to shame. He made us wince a few times as he jumped around on stage because we thought he would hit his head on the ceiling. He even handed out lighters with his band name engraved on them. Last up was a great band out of Mendocino County called Thrive. They rocked the crowd with their own rendition of Wyclef's *Sweetest Girl*. The crowd was warmed up and ready for the main act, but we had to wait another 30 mins. During this mysterious downtime, I wound up on a little adventure that I have to share with you.

My adventure:
While taking in the show my mentor messaged me and instructed me to go backstage so that I could meet and interview Tarrus & Dean. I was not exactly prepared for this but was up for the task. If only it was that easy.

I am familiar with the Promoter as I've attended some of his previous Reggae shows, and some of his Saturday night parties also. In addition, he added me as an event admin on Facebook for the show. I pulled him aside and informed him that I needed to get backstage when Dean arrived because he was expecting me. Well.... To put it lightly, there was a slight miscommunication, it appeared to me that he was too busy and wasn't paying attention to what I was telling him. Long story short, I had to sneak my ass backstage (shaking my head). He later apologized and I graciously accepted. I'm certain that in the future we won't run into an issue like that again. Now on to the show!


It's Showtime!:
The sound was not exactly the greatest (their sound engineer did the best he could with what he had to work with) but I don't think people noticed once Tarrus and Dean Fraser graced the stage. Due to the time constraints, Tarrus had to skillfully hurry through his set with Loves Contagious, Wanty Wanty, and Start Anew. The crowd screamed as soon as they heard the 1st chords of Human Nature. As for Dean Fraser what can I say it's DEAN FRASER! The back up singers blessed us with brief solos. Let me tell you this Althea, Sherita, and Chris can sang! There was also a special guest in the house, Trinidad and Tobago's Queen Omega. I didn't know what to expect as I watched Queen Omega walk on the stage. All I can say is wow! One would have thought they had rehearsed before the show. The chemistry between them was great. She has a beautiful voice. Tarrus and company put on an awesome show. It was so unfortunate they only had approximately 45 minutes to hypnotize us. But hey, admission was only $10, you bet we got our money's worth.

After the show:
Ladies and Gentleman this is my first interview. I am very grateful Tarrus took the time to answer a few questions.


Miss Goodas: What are your thoughts on the current state of dancehall music?

Tarrus: I love it. Dancehall music is nice. Dancehall music is my generation of music. It's nice it's good to dance to.

Miss Goodas: What are your thoughts on the tragedy that occurred in West Kingston?

Tarrus: Sad (brief pause). Slowly but surely we will rebuild.

Miss Goodas: If they started a bootcamp for new recording artists to perfect their stage performance would you coach them?

Tarrus: (Laughs) I'll send them to Dean Fraser.

Miss Goodas: What foreign recording artist would you like to work with?

Tarrus: I don't mind. Anyone, I love good music.

Miss Goodas: Are there any current Billboard Top 40 hits that you really enjoy right now?

Tarrus: (Starts to sing) "Beautiful girls all over the world" It's a nice song. I like that song.

Note: After we concluded our interview. Tarrus was nice enough to exit backstage and greet the fans who were still in the venue after the show. He signed autographs and posed for pictures. I wish more artists would take the time to do that.




Dean Fraser
(Photo courtesy of Christafer Brown)


Dean Fraser
(Photo courtesy of Christafer Brown)


Raspire band member, Calico


Raspire singer, KC Fire

Backstage:


Tarrus


Dean Fraser


Tarrus


Fabulous Diva's Althea & Sherita


Althea, Chris & Sherita


Queen Omega (middle) with friends