This year I have made some great links in Brighton: a city with its own unique take on reggae music and a thriving PA and live scene.
On Saturday 30th April I was invited by my friends at Unity Hi Fi to a gig by local bands Resonators and Samsara at the Komedia. Unity spun specials from the likes of Alborosie to warm up the crowd. Resonators, with a two singer double attack, played a blissed out dubby steppers set before the more Two Tone influenced Samsara closed the show for their adoring hippie fans.
Then, on 10th June, the good people at Unity asked me back again to hear Reading’s Kris Kemist and the Reality Shock crew man the decks in the more rough and ready seafront location of Volks nightclub. Taking the mic were none other than legendary deejay Deadly Hunta and the sugar voiced singer Chieftan Joseph. But the visitors faced tough competition from veteran selector DJ Sinner who spliced reggae and jungle with seamless expertise.
From throngs in sarongs to bass-heavy fusions with daughter genres like jungle and dubstep, Brighton does reggae its way. Look out for Unity Hi Fi in their own special area at the Hainault One Love Festival 2011 next month…