Surforeggae exclusive: Everything about Clinton Fearon's visit to Salvador!

Salvador, capital of Bahia de Todos os Santos, received last Saturday, September 29, one of the great stars of world Reggae: Clinton Fearon, former bassist of the group The Gladiators. Clinton, who is touring the country, had already passed through cities such as Fortaleza and Belém, accompanied by the sharp Leões de Israel, which has been representing national Reggae very well as the backing band for major artists. The event that received Clinton Fearon and other great local attractions in Salvador was “Reggaezeira”, held in the neighborhood of Cajazeiras, one of the city's most populous. Besides Fearon, the bands Facção Roots, Yashwa, Tribo do Sol, Leões de Israel, Ricky Husbands & Irie Positive and Metamorfose Roots also performed. The structure set up by the Production Team was very good, with space, stage, sound and lighting worthy of the best shows in Salvador. The event began around 7 at night with the band Facção Roots, which, despite being unknown to much of the audience, stirred those present (even if still in small numbers) with its own songs and well-executed covers. At the end of the first band's performance, the number of people outside the show was quite expressive, and greater than those inside the space, perhaps because the sound was quite “heavy” and could be heard perfectly from outside. The second attraction of the night was the band Yashwa, also still unknown to most people. It was possible to notice that Yashwa followed the example of other big names in Reggae, such as Christafari, and made Gospel Reggae full of messages of praise. Only from the performance of Tribo do Sol, the third band to take the stage, did the public begin very slowly to decide to actually pay for the ticket and honor the show and the structure assembled. Tribo do Sol is a very important band in the Bahia scene, representing the world-famous Aldeia de Arembepe, which has already received music stars such as Janis Joplin. Tribo's show was very good, leaving the true feelings that the purest Reggae provides: peace and love in the heart. Unfortunately, the Reggae public in Brazil has not yet realized that it needs to support events, otherwise they do not happen. And although the number of people inside the show was not very small, outside it was two or three times larger. Then Leões de Israel, the next attraction of the night, warmed up the public's spirits; they received them for the second time in the city, singing practically every song. Leões gave a show performing major hits from the album “Palavra Viva”, such as “Me Gwaan” and “Sofrimento Útil”. As Leões had the great responsibility of accompanying Clinton Fearon, after the band's show there was only a short interval. When Leões de Israel returned to the stage, the audience already knew what was coming: Clinton Fearon and his great hits, which he has carried for more than 30 years. A medley with Clinton's hits drew screams from the public and smiles from the artist, who was already at the back of the stage ready to make his first performance in Salvador. “Chatty Chatty Mouth”, “Brother Music”, “On The Other Side” and “Rocky Road” were just some of the songs that brought joy to the Bahia audience. Clinton Fearon smiled throughout the performance and showed he was happy with Leões de Israel, introducing the musicians as if he already knew them and they were longtime friends. Without a doubt Clinton Fearon's show will remain in the memory of those who were present, and may he appear here to launch his new album, which is already being prepared, as he said in an exclusive interview with Surforeggae. After Clinton, the next attraction was Ricky Husbands and the band Irie Positive. Ricky is an excellent singer born in Guyana and based in Bahia. He always tours the United States, having already shared the stage with great names in world Reggae, besides having been keyboardist for the unforgettable Jimmy Cliff. To close the night, which was almost day, the band Metamorfose Roots performed its show, even with an encore, since the audience, even though very small at that moment, did not want to leave so early. Once again the paying public at an international Reggae show was small, leading us increasingly to believe that if this kind of attitude does not change, we will return to the stagnation that occurred some time ago, when bands came to Brazil but did not come to Bahia because producers no longer believed in the strength of the movement. Until Salvador Festival, with Israel Vibration on October 13!

FOTOS DO EVENTO

Click here and see some photos from the event. Photos by: Rafael Costa, Claudio Correia, Herbert Souza and Sacramento (Bope)

MULTIMÍDIA

Click here and watch Clinton Fearon live with "Chatty Chatty Mouth".