Back in April of 2005, Barbados launched Reggae on the Hill. The location was at Farley Hill and featured acts top reggae acts such as Barrington Levy, Beres Hammond and Maxi Priest. I was rather disappointed that I missed it since I was in Barbados just days after the event. I vowed to return and experience the event as I’d heard so many good reviews about it.

Here we are in 2006, and I made it to the 2nd Annual Reggae on the Hill on the weekend of National Heroes Day and May Day. This year’s acts included Third World, Anthony B, Morgan Heritage, Luciano, and Buju Banton. My day started early as the event was scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. After living in the Miami area for a while, I was aljost sure that the crowd wouldn’t come until later in the day. Well, my Bajan friend insisted that we leave early because of the parking issue. So here we are, inching in traffic for a good hour. Barbados is not a large place, and the area where we were in traffic was even smaller. We finally reached and I was amazed at how large the crowd was. The radio stations reported 17,000 pre-sold tickets had been sold over the weeks at US$35. A reported 20,000 patrons attended the event.

The setting of Farley Hill is very nice, with large trees giving plenty of shade. The shade did a good job of keeping me cool in the warm temperatures and I was comfortable despite the huge crowd. Local acts were already performing on stage. Performances by locals Bruce Chandler and Peter Ram went over well. My favorite local act would have to be Biggie Irie. His voice is strong yet smooth. I’ve seen him perform before, and it’s always delightful.

I was happy that performance started on time and there wasn’t a lot of space between the acts. Third World was a bit of a disappointment. The only highlight was hearing “96 Degrees,” and the crowd seemed unmoved. Anthony B did a better job and delivered some of my favorite tunes by him, including a back in the day song, “Waan Back.” Morgan Heritage did an excellent job delivering a good performance and great song selections. I swayed my hips throughout the whole performance. I don’t think I even paid attention to the large crowd.

Luciano came on next and was a bit of a disappointment. I’ve seen Luciano perform before, and was not very impressed with this performance of his. I don’t know if it was the length of time I’d been outside at this point, but I became a bit bored. His selections were of nice songs, but many were so slow that it brought my mood down after hearing Morgan Heritage. Perhaps he should have gone on before.

The highlight of the event was Buju Banton. He started at 6 pm and delivered hit after hit. Many of which the crowd knew from start to finish. “Untold Stories,” “It’s Not An Easy Road,” “Destiny,” “Hills and Valleys,” “Pull It Up,” and a host of others kept the crowd going. Buju’s backing vocalists were on point. The trio of women had voices like instruments. Buju stayed on for just over an hour, and performed a number of his best songs. It’s always nice to see a show with a smaller lineup, so that we can experience a longer set by the artiste. I can’t wait until next year’s Reggae On The Hill!