Irie Fest Long Beach California

Queen Mary Events Park, Long Beach California
August 28th & 29th

I attended the 2nd Annual Irie Fest in Long Beach, California the weekend of August 28th & 29th. The lineup was great which is what attracted me to make the trip to Southern California to attend the show. I was disappointed however, when upon my arrival to Long Beach I found out Queen Ifrica & Tony Rebel's appearance had been cancelled. I know, I know, I read the fine print on the flyer, "artiste lineup subject to change".

The attendance was lower than I expected as I had attended the Ragamuffins Festival (formerly known as Bob Marley Fest) in February. The attendance for that show was 16k on a Sunday night.

Mr. Vegas performed on Saturday with Reggae Dancehall Group New Kingston backing his high energy set. Now I honestly expected to see a half ass performance from him due to the light attendance. Mr. Vegas put on a great show. I think whether it's 10 people or 10k Mr. Vegas will give the crowd their money's worth. Mr. Vegas and New Kingston have great chemistry on stage. Beres Hammond, Culture, Lenya Wilkes, & Inner Circle gave solid performances. I was also impressed with Leon. Yes Leon, if you didn’t get the memo Leon is a recording artiste as well as an accomplished actor. There were a lot of “no name” local talent performances who gave great performances. Pato Banton held the crowd earlier in the afternoon I am amazed at how big of a following he has. He definitely satisfied the crowd with his conscious lyrics.

Queen Mary Events Park is a great venue to hold outdoor shows. I don’t know whether it was due to “recession” or poor promotion that caused the low attendance. I hope things get better because the festival has a great vibe. A nice multicultural crowd, perhaps a 1-day festival would work better. I found that Sunday was too long and drawn out. Maybe 12 p.m. – 8 p.m. rather than 10 p.m.