in review / By Maxwell Schnurer

Reggae on the River 2008

(July 31, 2008)  July 19 at Benbow State Park

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In front of an adoring crowd, Culture’s lead singer Kenyatta Hill dedicated his performance at Reggae on the River to his deceased father, the roots star Joseph Hill. The senior Hill helped found the band and penned such esteemed roots classics as “Two Sevens Clash” and “Zion Gate.”

Gigantic shoes to fill, but Kenyatta not only sounds extremely good on the smoothed-out roots tunes, but leads the crowd in ecstatic dance steps — arms flailing and dreads leaping around his face. He growls, chants and between songs uses his microphone to elicit creepy horror effects via the echo-box while he injects energy into the sun-blasted crowd.

Culture has been a reggae festival headliner for more than 30 years — the conscious choice when it comes to roots reggae. I saw a lot of old reggae festival T-shirts — sure indicators that some attendees had probably seen the band a few times. Long-time reggae fan or first time festival-goer, everyone seemed pretty impressed with this performance.

Of course, the festival space is simply gorgeous. Nestled into a grassy river bank with a stage caressing the roots of a grove of redwood trees, no matter where you stand at Benbow you can probably see the river, redwoods and the mountains. The Mateel made sure that the sound was absolutely bumping this year, and even knee-deep in the river, hundreds of yards away from the stage, I could feel the bass of New Zealand rockers Katchafire pounding in my chest.

Katchafire gave wonderful energy to the crowd and lured in many a dancer. The Benbow stage is intimate — no significant barrier between the performers and the crowd, and both Katchafire and Warrior King tapped hands and connected with the writhing crowd.

This festival was youth friendly, and kids of all ages joined the dancing masses and ran pell-mell through the crowds. Despite the minor risk that a wayward arm might knock someone over, the presence of kids seemed to deter some of the most blatant of festival debauchery.

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