Reggae Rise Up proved itself to be, once again, one of Utah’s most popular music festivals on Saturday night at The Complex.
Since 2011, the festival has attracted some of the biggest names in reggae, such as Matisyahu, Slightly Stoopid, Tribal Seeds, Dirty Heads and Stephen Marley. This year, Passafire, Pepper, Iration and more stopped by a sold-out venue for the eight-hour event. Although reggae music is best enjoyed outside on a warm summer day, this indoor concert created a psychedelic feeling that made up for the chilly spring air outside.
Most of the crowd hung out on the venue’s smoking deck through the performances until Pepper came out. At this point, security had clearly given up as illicit substances made their rounds throughout the audience. The group kept the show’s energy up and mellow until Iration took the stage.
“Let’s smoke some weed!” bassist/singer Bret Bollinger said before the band broke into their hit “Stormtrooper.” He then gave monologues and told sexual jokes, some of which were borderline offensive, throughout the night.
The lights dimmed as Bollinger brought out Iration’s Micah Brown for an acoustic version of “Tradewinds.” The crowd took a break from their dancing to watch the band give such an intimate experience. The crowd was either too drunk or stoned to pull out their phones and record, but the lights, performance and environment created a vibe a camera couldn’t capture anyways.
The band ended with “Ashes” and Bollinger slowly started to remove every article of clothing he had on, shoes and socks included, until he finally got down to the swim suit he had under his jeans.
To the audience’s relief, or perhaps to their disappointment, he kept the bottoms on and left the stage.
Iration went on at 11:15 p.m. and performed a 16-song setlist for the audience. Unlike the ska/punk Pepper, Iration is more traditional reggae with dub sprinkled throughout. While the crowd was still dancing, they were much more calm when Iration went on.
It’s still uncertain if there will be a summer version of the festival, but fans don’t need to worry because if winter festivals are the future of Reggae Rise Up, there will always be a space for the genre in Salt Lake City.
@chirs_ayers