Curtis Hixon Park overflowed with good vibes this past Saturday as it hosted the very first Chillin Music Festival. The festival raised money for Chillin’ For Kids, an organization that assists the families of children suffering from life threatening medical conditions. The festival consisted of 12 musical performances ranging from local artists like Tribal Style to multi-record bands such as headliners Pepper, The Expendables, and Stephen Marley.
The Waterfront Main Stage parallel from Plant Hall, hosted performances from each of the headlining bands. The Kiley Garden Stage hosted the rest of the festival’s music sets next to the Sykes building downtown. Along with a variety of performers, the park was filled with beer trucks and food vendors including Taco Bus, Jerk Hut, and Urban Juice. Clothing vendors sold rastafarian gear, glass pieces and even specialty hula hoops for exercise or hobby use, that varied in weight, diameter, and color.
The park was crowded with reggae lovers of all ages. After attending a fair share of reggae concerts, one would assume that the older generation wouldn’t have much of a presence at festivals or concerts like these. However, a great majority of the Chillin’ Fest attendees were perhaps well over 30. And as the afternoon went on, more and more people filed in, packing the mainstage.
The Expendables came on to the Waterfront Mainstage around 4:30 p.m. The sun was beating down on everyone in the audience, but that didn’t stop the fans who flocked to the stage. The Expendables’ performance didn’t disappoint the audience of long time fans. They played some of their most well known songs including “Bowl for Two”, “Down Down Down”, “Sacrifice, and “Ganja Smugglin.” As the Expendables performed “Bowl for Two” the crowd started dancing, clapping, and yelling. Fans didn’t even need to hear the first lyric to know what song the band was about to play. Everyone in the audience was singing along and swaying to the music – the heat didn’t seem to stop anyones vibes. Near the end of the song The Expendables interacted with the audience and divided the crowd in half to see who could sing louder. The crowded participated without hesitation, still singing along to the lyrics of the song.
As the sun was setting and the storm was rolling in, Stephen Marley came on stage. The crowd appeared to grow even more than before. Marley performed his own songs as well as covers of his father, Bob Marley’s songs. Standing front row the bass thumped so deep it was hair raising. The acoustic sound and authentic instruments including flute, saxaphone, bongos, and shakers created a mellow mood that hadn’t been represented that day yet. Marley played his hit single “Mind Control” with a much more relaxed sound than earlier bands. People in the audience waved flags and banners as they swayed with music.During Stephen Marley’s covers of “Three Little Birds,” “Jamming,” and “One Love” he sounded so much like his father that if the crowd had closed their eyes they could have imagined Bob Marley himself on stage. His set was very calm and relaxed and served as a good break between the other performances.
Afterwards the sun was set and dark clouds emerged overhead. Pepper was up next and the crowd was getting anxious. This was my third time seeing Pepper live and my expectations were pretty high based off of their past performances. With their high energy and virtually perfect setlist this show definitely wasn’t a let down. They played some of their most popular songs including “Stone Love,” “Rent,” “Stormtrooper,” and “Give it up.” Halfway through their set it started to rain–but after the long hot day the rain felt undoubtedly refreshing. During the band’s performance of “Give It Up” the audience went crazy. It seemed like the entire crowd was jumping around and singing along to each word. Around 9 p.m. Pepper’s set was over and the crowd started to thin out. Everyone was covered in mud from the soggy grass, but still shared smiles with the strangers around them.
Justine Parks can be reached at Justine.parks@theminaretonline.com