FOR over 50 years, Maxi Romeo has had a presence on the European live show scene. Approaching his 78th birthday, the reggae great heads for that continent late this month for a handful of dates.

The opening show is scheduled for Centre Culturel in La Seyne-sur-Mer, France, on May 24. There is a two-week break before Romeo hits the stage at Le Forum in Charleville-Mezieres, also in France.

The singer returns to Europe for appearances on major festivals like Summer Jam in Cologne, Germany, on July 1. Six days later, Romeo performs at Ostroda Reggae Festival in Poland before heading back to France for Summer Vibration in Selestat, close to the German border.

On July 29, Romeo is down to perform at Uppsala Reggae Festival in Sweden. He closes his mini tour on August 26 at Uprising Festival in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Because of COVID-19, the busy European reggae circuit has been under lockdown down since early 2020. It prevented artistes like Max Romeo from promoting new songs, some of which can be found on World Of Ghouls, a 12-song album produced by his son Azizzi.

Released last December, World Of Ghouls contains collaborations with some of Romeo’s other children, including Xana and Lil Rolee.

Max Romeo (born Maxwell Smith) is originally from St Ann. In 1968, the risqué Wet Dream introduced him to a British audience.

That base grew substantially during the 1970s when he recorded a series of cutting-edge songs for producers Bunny Lee and Lee “Scratch” Perry. Those include Let The Power Fall, Macabee Version, Chase The Devil, War Ina Babylon, and One Step Forward.