Gregory Isaacs returns in style to Bahia and gives the best show of República do Reggae 2004. Exclusive!

Last Saturday, November 20, was another landmark date for the Reggae scene in Bahia and Brazil with "República do Reggae", an event that on this occasion brought two days (November 13 and 20) of great reggae with major national and international attractions. For the second day of the second edition of the event, which last year featured Alpha Blondy, we had the king of "Lovers Rock" Gregory Isaacs, Tim Tim Gomes, Planta e Raiz, Natiruts, Adão Negro, Edson Gomes and Flor da Tailândia. The huge crowd that filled every corner of Wet'n Wild, on Avenida Paralela in Salvador, saw Tim Tim Gomes open the night with magnitude. Tim Tim showed his roots, the reason he is respected and acclaimed in Bahia. The show also had a very beautiful moment when a boy of just 5 years played drums in the best "one drop" style together with the band and his father, who is Tim Tim Gomes' lead guitarist. República do Reggae is set to become the first Reggae festival in Brazil to be released on DVD, which should be launched in January with 4 songs from each artist who performed on the second day of the festival. The crowd never stopped for a moment thanks to DVD presentations during the intervals on screens spread throughout the venue. Continuing with the shows, the São Paulo band Planta e Raiz, performing in Salvador for the second time on this occasion, sang several of their hits, which for the vast majority of the Bahian audience were still unknown. After the São Paulo band's performance, Adão Negro, who has a fixed residency in São Paulo, performed their show with all their hits and new songs, which show their new phase perhaps characterized as "world reggae" or "pop reggae", whereas at the beginning they were considered a Reggae Roots band. The Natiruts band from Brasília – DF was the fourth attraction of the night. The group, which has a very large number of fans across Brazil, had not been to Salvador for some time, and put on a show not very different from the usual. Highlight for the lead guitarist who took the place left by Tonho Gebara, who died prematurely of a heart attack in early 2004. Edson Gomes brought original Reggae Roots back to the República do Reggae stage. Edson and his band Cão de Raça were once again among the highlights, singing on average four new songs, full of criticism of the system and discrimination. It was already past four in the morning when Edson Gomes said goodbye and left the stage for the night's main attraction – the Jamaican Gregory Isaacs. Gregory, unlike the last time he was in Salvador, in the year 2000, came accompanied by the São Paulo band Leões de Israel. Leões did not fall short of Lloyd Parks & We The People Band, who usually accompany Gregory Isaacs at his shows. Opening the show magnificently with 3 classic Jamaican instrumentals, including the famous "Rockford Rock", Leões made the huge audience present vibrate, who saw the king of romantic Reggae take the stage for the third time in Salvador. Gregory Isaacs definitely erased the bad impression left by his second show in Salvador, which took place in the year 2000. Isaacs was quite sober, unlike the last occasion, and was able to show that he is still in full form, at the height of his 53 years. Hits that the singer had not performed for a long time, such as "Sunday Morning", "Slave Master" and "Border" could be heard again in what for many was the best show of República do Reggae 2004. The main concern was the duration of the show, since in the past we had an average of 43 minutes. This time the performance lasted 1 hour and 10 minutes, with an encore that came with the classic and beautiful "Night Nurse". It was already past 6 in the morning, and with the sun already beating down on the few remaining, the band Flor da Tailândia came on to close the second edition of República do Reggae. We are now looking forward to next year's event, which was undoubtedly the biggest Reggae festival in the country in 2004.

EVENT IMAGES

Click here to see photos from this event. Thanks to brother Claudio Correia for help with the photos