8 Days of Reggae: Rototom Sunsplash, Spain

From one festival covered in smoke to another... 

While I was in Whistler the other week I was ensconced in smoke from the BC wildfires. This week it was an entirely different type of smokey haze covering the festival. Welcome to Rototom Sunsplash - an eight day reggae festival in Benicassim, Spain.

This is one of the biggest reggae festivals in Europe, and more than 200,000 people head there every year. There were obviously a lot of regulars, as I spotted the Rototom shirts from previous years on backs the entire week. It was one of the few moments in the past few years that I really missed my dreadlocks too - they were almost a uniform for the festival, it seemed. Ah, to have my natty dreads back again!

Don Carlos

This festival ran like no other I’ve been to, time-wise. The live music started at 8.30 each night and ran until about 7 in the morning. Honestly, I never made it to 7am - the best I did was 3am, and even that is a stretch for me these days. The festival gates opened at 1pm each day, and the daytimes were filled with talks and workshops. I began to have a pretty solid pattern of waking at 1pm, leaving my tent and wandering to the Reggae University onsite. I saw Steel Pulse discuss their music with a roster of Ethiopian musicians, Seun Kuti in conversation, and Don Carlos bless us with his wisdom from his Black Uhuru days and beyond. I learnt so much about those musicians that I admired, and it made me miss my days of interviewing those legends on Roots N All. 

Seen Kuti

You might have noticed that many festivals these days start the morning with a yoga class, and it's a telling sign of the Rototom timetable that their yoga was at 2.15pm. That was way too early for me, and in the warmest part of the day. I did lay on the nearby hammocks in the shade and watch sometimes though. That counts, right? The dedicated hammock areas were one of my favourite features of Rototom Sunsplash, and I firmly believe it should be legislated that they are mandatory at all festivals.

There was also a kids area, a circus show and classes, dancehall classes and African culture and dance lessons, among many other things! So much to do, but honestly, during the day it was so hot that laying in a hammock was about all I could muster. I had to buy new pants because the clingy yoga pants that I usually get around in stuck to my skin so badly that it was a hazard to go to the bathroom in case I couldn’t peel them back up again.

Rototom Sunsplash is really all about the reggae though, and the lineup was an impressive who’s who of the scene: Ky-Mani Marley and Gentleman, Beenie Man, Shaggy, Amparanoia, Toots & the Maytals, Chronixx, Bombino, Luciano, The Specials, and The Wailers, among millions of others. I can’t possibly run you through all of them, but here’s some of my highlights…

I’ve been lucky enough to see Seun Kuti three times now, primarily thanks to WOMADelaide festival. This third time was no different - that man and his band always manage to wow me with their live show. It never gets old. His backup singer and dancer is as mesmerising to watch as Kuti himself, with her brightly coloured outfits, huge number of necklaces and sweet dance moves. Seun was in one of his impressive two-piece outfits, and stripped off the top right on cue near the end of his set. I don’t blame him, it would have been bloody hot up there! The show was a tribute to his father, and if anyone can do that justice its Seun.

Anytime a Marley jumps on a line up it’s gotta be good, right? Last year Rototom had Jr Gong himself, Damien Marley, and this year Ky-Mani was on the bill. Ky-Mani Marley and Gentleman actually teamed up for a show together, and it was great. A lot of the set was them tag-teaming songs, with Gentleman heading straight into the crowd for most of his tunes. He was definitely the one hyping up the crowd, and in contrast Ky-Mani would waltz on, nail his songs, and instantly gain the attention of the crowd. Both artists were amazing, and watching them team up was pretty special, particularly on some classic Bob Marley tunes.

With eight days of reggae, it’s always good to see something different, and Inna de Yard was just that. The show was still reggae, but it was done acoustic-style, and the musicians involved rotated to play different instruments or jump to the front of the stage almost every song. The group is made up of Kiddus I, Cedric ‘Congo’, Winstron McAnuff, Var (Pentateuch) and Kush (Uprising Roots). I also watched their session at the Reggae University, and it was so great to see the contrast between the older and younger players, and their enthusiasm for what they are doing with Inna de Yard.

Beenie Man brought his shiny jacket and shoes to the stage on Wednesday, and the crowd was going crazy with enthusiasm. Shirts were off, being spun around heads, and it’s probably the most bouncing that I saw any crowd do all week. The dancehall vibes were welcomed, as I’d been listening to a lot of one-drop by that point, and the show was off the hook!

I’ve gotta give props to the Australian artists on the lineup, too. Nattali Rise and her Jamaican band played the Lion Stage at 2am on Tuesday, and the crowd was loving it. It may be the best that I’ve ever seen her, and the new songs are sounding amazing live. Kingfisha scored an earlier slot on the same stage on Thursday night, and it was so great to see them. They’ve been slaying shows and festivals in France this Summer, so we were pretty blessed to have them cross the border into Spain for this one.

Full disclosure: I got pretty sick by the end of this festival, so I missed seeing a bunch of bands that were probably amazing. It was all I could do to make it out of bed by 6pm for the last two days, and I didn’t last long after that. Laying in a hammock isn’t a bad way to spend time when you’re feeling unwell though, I have to say.

Rototom Sunsplash is a festival that is difficult to sum up in just one blog post. There was so much going on all the time, with so many stages and events, that there’s no way I could cover everything. If you are a serious reggae lover though, you will adore this festival. So next time you’re thinking of a European sojourn, maybe pop Benicassim in your itinerary around early August?

So now I’ve been to SEVEN festivals in about two months… And let me tell you, festival fatigue is a thing! I love them so much, but it’s time to take a break. I’m off to Portugal to learn to surf and immerse myself in a yoga retreat for a little while… and maybe take some time off the online world too. We shall see.