KINGSTON, Jamaica— The ‘Roots and Culture 3’ tour which featured the reggae warriors Lutan Fyah, Jah Mason, and Zhayna successfully completed a gruelling 25-city tour across Europe last week, notching a number of important achievements for the genre and brand Jamaica.

For the first time, reggae acts graced the Hip Hop Square Center, a famous venue reserved almost exclusively for hip hop in France. Also for the first time, reggae firebrand Lutan Fyah toured Europe to promote an album, ‘Strength and Resilience’, while selling merchandise and vinyl copies of that said album.

And Jah Mason returned to the UK for the first time in 16 years to rock the Fox and Firkin club in Lewisham in London with his timeless hit, ‘My Princess Gone’.

“The whole ah de vibes of the tour did nice but the Marseille and the Toulouse shows were great because there were moments when all three of us were onstage at the same time and freestyling on the rhythm, that was a really spontaneous musical vibe that I loved. The tour gave me a chance to interact with my core fan base for the first time in France in over a decade,” Jah Mason noted.

The tour saw these reggae acts playing in techno clubs and other union-backed venues which are not traditional reggae hotspots, underlining the genre’s continued relevance in the marketplace.

One of the best revelations of the tour was the chemistry that the Free People band – which featured almost exclusively French musicians – enjoyed with the Jamaican artistes. The talented quartet of Roger Simon on drums, Dominique Marie Joseph on bass guitar, Jean Michel ‘Jimai’ Ivanes on guitar, and Bastien ‘Keysie’ Belmokadem on keyboards, gelled brilliantly towards the end of the tour and delivered some tight, wonderfully executed sets.

The band delivered driving hardcore roots-reggae sets, especially in acoustic-friendly venues such as Kafe Antzokia in Bilbao (Spain), the De Oosterpoort in Groningen, Netherlands and the Kammgarn in Schaffhausen, Switzerland that simply wowed fans.

The band even topped themselves with a virtuoso set, with the genius of Roger Simon on drums on full show, at the jam-packed Hip Hop Square Center in central Paris, France.

“It was a very, very successful tour in terms of the logistics, audience attendance, robust merchandising sales and the creation of a comfort zone for the artistes, crew and promoters to be at their optimal level,” said Cabel Stephenson, tour conceptualiser and head of Free People Entertainment.

“It showed a different perception of Jamaican acts…confidence in the reggae product has returned to the European marketplace. A lot of promoters are feeling more comfortable having the reggae product on their stages and the fans are, loving what the promoters are feeding them,” Stephenson continued.

Free People Entertainment teamed up with Mediacom of France to organise and execute the tour which snaked through 25 cities across Europe in 34 days. Tour manager Damien ‘Dama’ Albert and artiste liaison/driver Marco ‘Marco’ Palian provided technical support on the tour.

Lutan Fyah, who was promoting his latest ‘Strength and Resilience’ album, was pleased with the outcome of the tour. He was able to interact with fans, take photos and sign vinyl copies of his album with audience members after each event, driving his album sales.

“It was good on the road together. I fulljoy, Jah is good. The tour was an important one for reggae music to establish a connection with the fans during the winter in these club settings. The album is streaming and selling well. Big up the band members, Fyah Mason, my biological friend, Zhayna, Claude Mills, Cabel, tour manager Dama and Michel of Mediacom. Thanks for having Lutan Fyah with you. Rastafari,” he said.

The tour climaxed at the Indra Club in Hamburg that the Beatles famously played during the 1960-62 stage of their development. It was in the town of Hamburg that the Beatles first met Astrid Kirchherr who was instrumental in their adoption of the mop-topped Beatle haircut.

Zhayna, who wowed fans with her zany fashion sense and boundless energy as she demonstrated Jamaican dances onstage, found the tour experience to be ‘amazing’.

“It was such an amazing experience! Even though it was cold I got a warm welcome from the audience all across Europe. I gained a lot of new followers and fans after each performance. They were so excited to see a new young, fierce female on the reggae scene. I must say I am exhausted after such a tough run especially in the winter season, but interestingly I am ready to do it again, Zhayna said.

The headliners Lutan Fyah, Jah Mason and Zhayna will return to the island this week.

Lutan Fyah

Jah Mason