REGGAE RISE UP 2024 | FLORIDA
Spring is finally here and with that all of the amazing Spring & Summer music festivals are starting. The first one of my 2024 concert season was Reggae Rise Up Florida! I just returned from an AMAZING 4 days of Reggae Music, pictures & chill vibes and I need to fill you all in! I have been to tons of different concerts & music festivals. I have literally seen it all. But this one was one of my favorites. Reggae Rise Up Florida is set at Vinoy Park in Saint Petersburg, Florida and is easily one of the nicest festival venues I have been to. Two Stages, food trucks, all kinds of cool vendor booths, palm trees, & countless bands for 4 days along the waterfront. Umm yes, please!
Reggae Rise Up Florida was set for March 14-17. I arrive in town, get all of my camera gear & head straight to see the first day of shows which was actually just a half day. I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t slammed with people and the crowds were easy to manage. The first day of shows included Brothers Within, Through the Roots & Little Stranger. I loved every single set! They all brought a fun energy to the stage & the crowd was just totally enjoying the sun, warm weather, and amazing music. Little Stranger took it up a notch with singer Kevin jumping into the mass of people and crowd surfing! Their song ‘Coffee & A Joint’ had all of us singing along and the energy of the crowd was getting more intense for the rest of the night. Lupe Fiasco was next on stage, and he was full on party mode and put on a great show but once the sun went down, the crowd was ready for the headliner of the night, Dirty Heads. The set was in mostly blue and red lighting and when the band came out the entire crowd just lost it. Reggae Rise Up 2024 has officially gotten off to an amazing start.
Friday, March 15 was the second FULL day of shows. I get to Vinoy Park and instantly notice the crowd has nearly doubled from the day before. It was crowded! And it was HOT. It felt like mid-summer…but that’s Florida. The lineup for the day was fantastic and included
Collie Buddz, Protoje, The Original Wailers, Claire Wright, Drifting Roots, Dale and the ZDubs, The Expendables, The Kaleidoscope Kid, Lila Ike, Rawayana, Eli-Mac, Soja & Rebelution. Collie Buddz is one of my favorites and I couldn’t wait to see them. Their set started strong & already had a full crowd excited & ready for them. My favorite part of their show was the super sexy acoustic lead into their song ‘Love & Reggae’. In between sets, I was wandering around kind of discovering the different areas of the festival. Being on the waterfront is super cool because people pull their boats up close to Vinoy Park & anchor & spend the day relaxing on their boats & paddle boards in the water while listening to the music. I grabbed some food from the trucks and went on to see Protoje. The night rounded out with Soja & Rebelution. I had never seen Soja but they played such an amazing set! I loved their stage presence and their music. When Rebelution was ready to play, it was another cool light show, this time everything was bathed in blues & yellows. They are a super fun reggae/rock band from California and with songs like ‘Good Vibes’ & ‘So High” they had the entire festival with hands in the air and having a blast.
Saturday, March 16 I think everyone was recovering from the night before. The early crowd was a little less than the day before but soon enough everyone started rolling in. The lineup for the day included Surfer Girl, Sons of Paradise, Yelawolf, The Wide Eyed Kids, The Sub Herbs, Seranation, Sammy Johnson, Pacific Dub, KBong & Johnny Cosmic, Fortunate Youth, Bumpin Uglies, Iration & Slightly Stoopid. I have to say that this was my first time seeing Yelawolf and that was one hell of a show! I absolutely loved it. He threw in a little Pantera ‘Walk’ which is always extra bonus points in my book. He was animated & all over the stage & just super cool & fun. Bumpin Uglies & Fortunate Youth also had great stage presence. I love when bands jump around and are connected to the crowd. I spent time in between bands wandering around again getting pictures of people enjoying the show but also checking out the vendors & watching the artists spray paint the giant billboards of art that included anything from beautiful orange flowers to a reggae inspired spider man. The closers for the night were Iration & Slightly Stoopid. Both amazing shows with such good music. Iration was awesome! Slightly Stoopid was the last show of the night & they were bathed in mostly purple & red lighting. This was the show a lot of people were really excited about because I can’t tell you how many Slightly Stoopid shirts people were wearing (even little kids). They are a huge band with a huge following. If you don’t know them, check out their songs ‘Don’t Stop’ & ‘2am’. The crowd was just totally chill and dancing the entire set.
The last day was Sunday, March 17 …Saint Patrick’s Day! Most everyone had some green on & my favorite shirt that I kept seeing people wearing said “Kiss Me I’m High-rish” the perfect thing at a reggae festival. Today’s lineup was Artikal Sound System, Steel Pulse, Mike Love, The Ries Brothers, Ichroniq, The Green, Cydeways, Boostive, Ballyhoo!, Joey Calderaio, Burning Spear, Damian & Stephen Marley. I couldn’t wait to see Artikal Sound System since they are another one of my favorite bands. As usual, they didn’t disappoint! They are such a great band and their songs are fun and totally relatable. Another band I really loved was Ballyhoo!. This was my first time seeing them but it will not be my last. I have had their song ‘Sleeping on the Couch’ on repeat the past few days (it’s really good & funny). But the festival ending on such a huge note as Damian & Stephen Marley was just perfect. I went to the photo pit & we were all just as excited as the crowd was to see them. We were in the presence of such an iconic family since they are the children of the legendary Bob Marley. Once the lights went down and the yellow stage lighting came on, a large flag was carried across the stage & Damian & Stephen Marley came out. Everyone just started cheering as they broke into their first song. The entire show was Amazing! Ending Reggae Rise Up Florida on that note couldn’t have been any better!
Reggae Rise Up isn’t just found in Florida. You can find it in Vegas on April 5, 2024, Utah on April 12, 2024 & Baltimore, Maryland June 21-23, 2024. It is a great festival & I can’t wait for the next one.
Editor Angela Gallagher