Stir it up

By Leigh-Anne Brown
Arizona Daily Wildcat
April 30, 1999

Send comments to:
letters@wildcat.arizona.edu

Leigh-Anne Brown
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Terry Slew (right) and Grant Man of the Grant Man and the Island Beat band show some love to their fans during their performance last Sunday.

Last Saturday and Sunday marked the 6th annual Tucson Bob Marley Festival, a stop on this year's Redemption Tour, held at the Pima County Fairgrounds. Beautiful weather and large crowds were on hand as over 30 reggae and worldbeat performers from around the world celebrated and honored the late, great Robert Nesta Marley and the cultural legacy he created through his music. There was plenty of room on the lawn to "stir it up" to the jamming beats, and hungry spectators could "satisfy their souls" with traditional island eats sold from nearby stands.

[Picture]

Leigh-Anne Brown
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Concert-goer and Jamaican Michael Sempliss sold Bob Marley flags to the crowd at the festival.

Proceeds from the event will go to help support The Highland Free School & Desert Survivors. Admission was a minimum $5 donation, but in the spirit of Marley's philosophies, a donation of $5 in non-perishable food was also accepted instead.

The Tour is dedicated Bob Marley's groundbreaking work as a musician, a pacifist and an activist for the enviroment and for natural foods.

"Redemption" was chosen as the theme for this tour, which, according to the promoters, aims to "celebrate reggae and worldbeat music while promoting cultural and spiritual unity." Each year, the theme is taken from one of Marley's world-renowned and inspiring songs.

[Picture]
Leigh-Anne Brown
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Lead singer Kinnie Gennings traveled all the way from New Orleans to share the reggae grooves of her band, Dawtas of Jah, with Tucson.

Leigh-Anne Brown
Arizona Daily Wildcat
A California entrepreneur, who is known to all by the name "4:20," mans his Jah Colors table, at which he sold a colorful array of pipes, bongs, and flags.