Romain Virgo ADD

Concert Report: Reggaeville Easter Special in Hamburg, Germany 2025

04/26/2025 by Gardy Stein

Happy 10^th anniversary, baby! Starting in 2013, Reggaeville, in collaboration with Revelation Concerts, has organized the Easter Special every spring (with the exception of the Corona lockdown years), bringing you some of the finest artists of the genre. For this years’ rose jubilee, the line-up was hand-picked like a beautiful bouquet of flowers – follow me to tell you more ‘bout it!

Taking Hamburg’s Fabrik as a reference, the fifth night of the 2025 edition saw all participating artists in high spirits upon their arrival early Sunday (April 20, 2025) afternoon. Blue skies and sunshine added to the festive feeling, and time flew during the soundcheck with two full band set-ups so that, very quickly, it was 7pm, visitors arrived, and the show was about to start.

At 8pm sharp, Janeel Mills opens the evening with Holding Strong (a song released in 2023 via Irie Yute Tapes), shaking hands and delivering another track before handing the mic over to Tori Lattore. She starts with the a fiery rendition of the Hotstepper, bringing movement to the gathering crowd, then switches to a slower pace during her own Be Awakened, garnished with a sprinkle of Welcome To Jamrock. “We gonna have some fun tonight!” she beams, and yes, that’s what everybody came here for. What a great idea to let these two ladies start the show with their female power and grace!

They now take their place among the other band members, a group of talented young Jamaican musicians who work with Romain Virgo, but today also provide the backing for Mortimer, who is up next. Starting with Heavy and Not A Day Goes By, this awesome artist impresses those who don’t know him with the sheer quality of his voice, and those who do with the lively delivery and audience interaction. “It is amazing to see the turnout tonight, it is amazing to feel the energy. Thank you guys, you came from near and far just to be here – we all appreciate that! Love to all!”

He then mentions how moments like this are a full circle moment for him and the band members, some of whom he has known since childhood: “We were just some likkle youths who went to art school together, you know, and we dreamt of being on stage and on tour like this!”, and I guess here a little introduction is due. Jared Ansine is on guitar, Jevaughn Latty on bass, Makiri Whyte rules the drums and Nicholas and Ottmar play keyboard while sound engineer Snysh makes sure all these instruments fall into place perfectly.

“One final shout-out to our road manager Dama [aka Damalistik] – him mek sure that tour runs smoothly, he looks out for us so we give thanks. Tomorrow is his birthday, so please make some noise for him!” We do, and Mortimer continues with You And Me and, finally, his signature tune Lightning, which I can’t help but enjoy with eyes closed. “If you believe in love, say love!” are the words he ends his set with, and when he waves goodbye, most hands are raised in greeting, and he surely won some new fans tonight.

After the applause due for such a fine performance, in comes Romain Virgo with his Masicka feature Been There Before. “If you are happy to be here tonight, put up your hands like this!”, he says, a request everyone gladly follows. The singer then takes us way back to the beginnings of his career, starting from 2009’s Can’t Sleep via Who Feels It Knows It (2010) and Fade Away (2015) to another track from his most recent album The Gentle Man, Switch You On. The place is on fire when he jumps into his well-known Live Me Life, including a detour to Toots’ 5446 Is My Number (on the bubbly Boops Riddim), Rich In Love and We No Worry ‘Bout Them, of course. Kaboom!

“Through the years we met people we call family,” he then continues, delivering the Christopher Martin feature Leave People Business and, as an encore fit for this Hamburg leg of the tour, Soul Provider. “Make some noise for Silly Walks!” What a thing! Romain and his band leave the stage to thundering applause, and during the changeover break, people go outside for a smoke, get a drink, chat with their friends or check the merch stands.

At 10:40pm, the Easter Special ride continues with the veteran artist “IJahman Levi!”, as a man in the crowd behind me excitedly shouts when the band begins to play. The first song is a pure instrumental, however, and only when the second one, Africa, starts does the singer come on stage. Such a small man with such a big voice! My highlight of his set is the beautiful Are We A Warrior, but all other songs are presented equally skillful by the band.

Whenever IJahman takes a break from singing, the musicians fall into extended soli, and it is a joy to see how each visitor is caught by a different instrument: some are almost on their knees when Kubix “makes love” to his guitar, some groove along with the bass played by Dominique, and some get moving when the fantastic drummer Sam Koné delivers his solo during Jah Heavy Load. All of this diversity is mixed eloquently by sound engineer Timour Cardzenas aka Timraybrown, who even intensifies our sonic experience by some wonderful live dubbing.

Jimhigh announces the final act of the evening: Culture, led by the late Joseph Hill’s son Kenyatta, who starts with See Dem A Come. “Do you know this one?”, the tall singer asks and smiles at the people when they shout an affirmative answer. He visibly enjoys his set, running from left to right, dancing and jumping. The audience, who range from younger fans to reggae lovers 50+, joins in when the band plays famous hits like Zion Gate, Two Sevens Clash and International Herb, during which Kenyatta introduces the band. Next to the members mentioned above, we hear Johnson and Muctaru on keyboards, both flamboyantly styled, and Telford aka Tilly Roots (on backing vocals with Jimhigh), one of the eldest remaining Culture members. Redemption Song is the final track they play, but although a delay of about 30 minutes has accumulated by now, they come back for an encore of I’m Not Ashamed. “Shalalala lala lalaaaa!” Thank you for this, Culture!!!

While the instruments that provided tonight’s magic are safely stowed away, the visitors slowly disperse and, moving among them, I overhear appreciative comments about the shows. Some loved the deep roots reggae beat of IJahman Levi’s songs or the captivating beauty of Mortimer’s vocals, others enjoyed jumping with Romain Virgo or singing along to Culture’s hits. Something for everyone, it seems! Thanks to all involved for their passion and energy – see you next year!

PHOTO REPORTS