Groundation - leurs impressions en milieu de tournée

Publié le par MiD

Groundation n'en finit pas de tourner, en France et en Europe après son album We Free Again
retrouvez les dates en France jusqu'au mois de décembre


  Le trompettiste Dave Chachere donne ses impressions au milieu de la tournée, après les festivals de cet été.
Photos du site officiel de Groundation.

From the Road:

This is a new feature written by trumpet man Dave Chachere about his impressions from the road.

 Its been a really intense year for all of us in the band.  After a lengthy breather (during which I'm getting married!) we're getting ready to return to Europe for our third tour.  We'll be playing some of the same clubs in France and Germany as well as some new ones there and in Portugal. Then we're heading to Brazil for the first time for a week's worth of shows.  Its amazing how huge the reggae scene is outside the Bay Area and all around the world.  The French have been amazing audiences, full of respect and enthusiasm for the music.  For the most part they're not very different from our fans in Cali: conscious, reverent towards the spirit of roots reggae and Bob Marley in particular.  In fact, one of the first festival shows was cancelled due to protests against what were considered be hate lyrics in the songs of Sizzla and Capleton.  The mayor of Paris stepped in, refusing to grant a festival permit, to emphasize the fact that, as a gay man, he wouldn't tolerate this message.  Something very similar took place in L.A. earlier this year.  The incident was widely publicized in the French press, but most of the reggae fans we met were less interested in what went on in the dancehall world.  Roots is king in Europe, as far as we could tell.

    We were all pleasantly surprised by the great turnout at our shows.  We had a lot of sellouts, and had the opportunity to share the stage with reggae legends like Toots and the Maytals, Black Uhuru, Yellowman, Steel Pulse and The Wailers.  We got the chance to talk to some of the guys from those bands backstage over the huge piles of great French food. There was a certain camaraderie among the native English speakers.  We got to express our gratitude to some of these musicians and got a lot of encouragement in return.  For me and a lot of musicians, hearing good words from another musician you respect is about the best thing that can happen.  All in all we saw a lot of amazing music.  Unfortunately we missed the chance to see Gentleman, Germany's biggest reggae artist, in his hometown of Köln because we were playing on the opposite stage at the same time.
    In between shows we got to enjoy the French countryside.  We stayed in some beautiful, peaceful spots: castles(!), farmhouses and the like.  We had some great beach time, and our French hosts were really fantastic.  They did throw some pretty unfamiliar food our way. Some of the more burrito-addicted Groundation members had difficulty with menu items like rabbit pate and curried oxtail.  Others objected strongly to the phenomenal cheese smell on the tour bus.  But hey, we're getting more open minded each time!
    This whole adventure came just after finishing our tour with Apple Gabriel in the spring.  It was my first opportunity to get to know a Jamaican artist of his stature, and it was a real privilege.  I think it took a while before Groundation and Apple found the kind of magic on stage we'd had in the studio.  I regretted the fact that our local fans didn't get to see the the evolution that happened in Hawaii and Southern California.  When Apple really merged with Groundation there were some truly great moments on stage. Unfortunately Apple got really sick in Hawaii, but he kept performing until he was completely demolished by the traveling and the bug and he missed the last show.  But he's healthy again, and we're looking forward to hopefully more works with him.
    The October tour will be very intensive, with sixteen shows in eighteen days.  When we get back from Hawaii in December we will all be focused on two things:  rehearsing our next CD and the Bob Marley Tribute in February. Hope to see you all there. Au revior!
Love & Respect
Dave Chachere


Les Frenchies te le rendent bien, on apprécie énormément le travail de Groundation, et leurs concerts.


Publié dans recits concerts

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