Words by Jesse Serwer:::Video Shot by Birhan Tonge:::Still Images by Birhan Tonge and Tono
LargeUp’s inaugural SummerStage concert presented with Okayplayer and Federation Sound July 26th was a massive success.
A capacity crowd of 5,500 took in Chronixx, Junior Reid and the Rice and Peas crew live on a beautiful summer Saturday, while those who couldn’t get in stuck around in overwhelming numbers (as many as 4,000, according to some estimates) to catch the sounds from afar. Mick Jagger showed up, and brought five of his children plus a few grandkids with him. Rahzel gave the crowd a surprise treat with his beatbox interpretations of classic riddims, while Rice and Peas’ Max Glazer, DJ Gravy and Orijahnal Vibez and Micro Don got the crowd hype and dancers Blacka Di Danca, Miss LikkleBit, Sir Ledgen, Mela Murder and friends got them even hyper. Junior Reid brought out his bag of classics backed by Derrick Barnett and the Statement Band, and Chronixx, backed by his own Zincfence Redemption troupe, closed things out with an hour-plus set that, along with his Fallon appearance earlier that week, helped cement his place (if it wasn’t cemented already) as reggae’s most talked-about artist.
Watch the webisode featuring all of the above for a behind-the-scenes look at one of the most talked about reggae/dancehall events to go down inna New York City in years.
