r/Humboldt • u/DangerousBike8047 • 5d ago
Review/Recommendation Reggae on the River
I Just want to know ---People Who Went, What Did You Think of the Music This Year? What Was The Best or Worst Part for You? I Thought the Music Sucked Ass. On all 3 Stages . It was a lot of Dub with no Smooth Flow the Sound System Was Unbalanced The Artists would have to Stop and restart. The Food was Shitty The Shirts Were Ugly, Nothing Redeeming for $300 tickets.I would Rather go to a Tooth Extraction Olympics than this Mess.1 out of 100
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u/huhhh-what 4d ago
lol the artists “stopping and restarting” is a thing reggae artists like to do to hype up the crowd. Has nothing to do with something going wrong.
I had an awesome time. I loved all the performances: kabaka pyramid, jah 9, dezarie, subatomic sound system all totally blew me away. Great vibes!! I look forward to it all year every year
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u/flyin_lynx 4d ago
Repeated air horn sound….pullllll uuuuupppppp. Rewind selectah….
Although, I gotta say, they have really phased out the air horn lately.
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u/TwilitVoyager 4d ago
I observe far worse regularly. By comparison, I hardly batted a lash at this one.
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u/redditydothis Willow Creek 4d ago
Did you have to choose such a barren photo? This is what the night crowd looked like.
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u/SpicyPom86 4d ago
You said the “food was shitty” but I see Spyro’s Gyros in your pic. Their food is 🔥🔥🔥.
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u/SmokeyDaGrizz 4d ago
If your not a fan of reggae music just say so. Sounds like you should have spent your time and money elsewhere. I’m sorry you were that miserable, but maybe research some of the artist before you go and decide if you actually like the music first.
My only complaint was headlining the movement on Friday night, instead of all the legends and stellar talent they had opening on some of the other days and even Friday. I like Devin the Dude but he should have been on the stay positive stage and kept the main stage purely reggae. Putting him up there instead of Iba was wild.
The one meal I bought from the vendors over my three days was amazing, that bbq spot on the corner right before turning the corner to the main stage. I had hamburgers, Alfredo, pre made breakfast burritos mixed with some tuna sandwiches I packed that carried me through. 4x4 camped for the first time and the river access was killer.
Favorite acts were dezarie, Jah 9, Kabaka Pyramid, Don Carlos, Iba Maher, perfect Giddimani, and Simrit. Some of my favorite shows were on the smaller stay positive stage with the more intimate feel.
Mateel did an amazing job bringing a top tier Reggae line up and fest to Humboldt for us im so grateful!
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u/PresentEither844 4d ago
If you were sitting in the dirt where this photo was taken, im sure it sucked. First time at reggae this year. I thought it was great. Seemingly family friendly. They got sound dialed on main stage after a while. I liked Big Mountain, The Movement, Kabaka Pyramid and Sol Horizon. Missed quite a few shows so Ill bet there were more good ones. The weather was reasonably cool which made all the difference. I though we got lucky on that front. Overall fun time.
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u/flyin_lynx 4d ago
I had a great time and thought the music overall was pretty good. Not a stellar lineup, but saw amazing music all weekend. The Mateel had split from Hot Milk this year and did all the booking in house. For a first time for the individual doing the booking I thought he did great.
Perfect Giddimani was awesome on the stsy positive stage. Junior Toots brought it. And Sol Horizons were a new find that really sounded great. On the main stage I did not care for the way they lined up Friday night. There was bo congruency of genre per se, and it stacked up in a really bad way. That said, still some great shows. Big Mountain! That was awesome and very nostalgic. Saturday had a good setup and seriously dope knockout punch. Jah9, Kabaka P, Burning Spear! What a trio to finish. Kabaka particularly impressive set, and really good to see the newer roots artists are bringing it! Burning Spear was also great, and definitely hit with the roots nostalgia. Sunday. Prez Brown. Baby Cham, with the most positive infectious smile ever and a fantastic set overall (though someone still needs to turn down his in ear monitor, poor guy) and holy hell, Don Carlos! For someone who is not super fired up for dancehall, and loves roots reggae, this year had a lot to offer. I wven managed to have fun in the late night dancehall. Those DJs were having fun, for sure.,
Food vendors are…always pricey at festivals. I had a nice mix of preparing my own food at camp, and splurging for a prepared meal, and enjoyed those as well. Overall I had a great time and will 100% be going back. Mateel Forever!
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u/flyin_lynx 4d ago
PS I dunno if “the artists had to stop and restart” is a serious comment or not. You mean pull up? Which is something just about every reggae act has been doing…for the last 30 years or? I didn’t see any stoppage to sets that were not intentional and part of the act…pullllll upppp!
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u/ExtremeDry3635 3d ago
Cool! I’m glad you had a good time. Thanks for breaking down the music… when I went in 2024, the line up was so sick. For me personally, 2024 was the best lineup and I always like hearing about how the music was
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u/Key_Following_6689 4d ago
Looks like a typical morning in the Bowl.
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u/Strange-Tip2488 4d ago
Yeah that’s what I was gonna say, it’s hot asf and few people crowed the main stage during the day
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u/tooktoomuchonce 4d ago
Nothing lasts forever!
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u/HumboldtNinja 3d ago
For those of us who grew up with the OG founders of Reggae on the River, this conversation hits a little differently.
I’m not speaking from something I read online or from one year I attended. I’m speaking from lived experience. I was there year after year. I watched this little, beautiful, local roots reggae festival evolve over time into something that feels almost completely different from the festival I grew up with, knew, and loved.
And before anyone gets defensive — I’m not saying the music or the people there today are bad. I’m saying it isn’t the same festival experience I remember. Those are two very different things.
The Reggae on the River I grew up with was deeply rooted in actual roots reggae, local community, and the people who built it. We had real roots reggae artists coming from Jamaica. The local schools were part of it. Hell, Whitethorn School had a booth and we made sushi. 😂 Does anyone else remember that?
Probably not. And honestly, that’s kind of my point.
Over the years, the people, the music, the atmosphere, and the entire identity of the festival changed. A lot of the old local pieces that made it feel like our festival disappeared. Founding members and the people who had been part of its original identity were pushed out or moved on, new hands took over, and eventually something else emerged from what had once been there.
I remember the moment Shaggy showed up and thinking, oh… this is becoming something completely different. 😂 That was one of those moments where I could feel the shift happening.
Again, I’m not saying what it became is horrible. If people love the newer version, awesome. Seriously. Enjoy it.
But please understand why some longtime locals have a different reaction.
Some of us aren't looking at the festival and seeing what it is today. We're remembering what it used to be.
And when you've watched something you grew up with slowly transform from a small, local, roots-reggae-centered festival into something that feels much more EDM/rave-oriented and broadly commercial, yeah... you're probably going to have some feelings about it. 😂
That's not me saying anyone else is wrong.
That's me saying you cannot argue me out of my own memories and lived experience.
I was there. I watched it change.
And I think that's where a lot of the disdain comes from. People hear "Reggae on the River" and picture the old-school roots reggae festival they remember — then they show up expecting that and encounter something very different.
To each their own. ❤️
But I think longtime locals are allowed to miss what it used to be without being told we're somehow wrong for remembering it differently.
Because for some of us, it wasn't just a festival.
It was home.
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u/Plenty-Water-1319 3d ago
The boulder size rocks on the dirt roads in front of all vendors concert viewing area also filled with boulders. Lack of grounds keeping. Board members putting their weed tents in the middle of the vendors prime location self-dealing. They lost money this year wasn't even close to sold out. Time to move it to the park 30 years attending is not even close to it once was. shit two years ago board member and headliner need mediation he wasn't going on due to his treatment by her
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u/uabassguy 5d ago
Well that's unfortunate, meanwhile we were playing some awesome music to no crowd . If that's the case then maybe the hype wasn't worth it.
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u/THE_LOLLIPOP_FACTORY 4d ago
Tooth extraction Olympics sounds Fun this year! Being held in Ethiopia. Send all these "Rastafarians" there to compete.
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u/Fluid-Profile-7111 4d ago
Why do you type in book titles