Tim Parsons / Tahoe Onstage
When green grass grows on the blacktop, everything is irie.
The fourth-annual Lake Tahoe Reggae Festival will be held Aug. 20 at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, where 10,000-square feet of turf will be installed.
The lineup, which was announced today, is Pepper, Ky-Mani Marley, Israel Vibration & Roots Radics, Don Carlos, Mike Love, Squarefield Massive, DJ Dinga and DJ Casta Rasta.
Tim Parsons / Tahoe Onstage
Located behind the hotel, the Hard Rock Outdoor Arena will have grass installed for two summertime events, The Bass Camp Festival IV on Aug. 6-7, and the reggae show, which is being put on for the fourth time by PR Entertainment. The venue will hold 7,500, according to promoter Paul Reder.
The all-ages reggae show will be from 4 to 10:30 p.m. and tickets are on sale at TicketFly.com. General admission advanced tickets are $55, and the price is $70 on the day of the show. VIP tickets, which include a private bar, a tented lounge, private restrooms, special main-stage viewing and early entry, are $100.
Formed in Kona, Hawaii, in 1997, Pepper is Kaleo Wassman, vocals/guitar; Bret Bollinger, vocals/bass; and Yesod Williams, drums. The fun-loving trio also played in 2012 across the street at MontBleu at its grassy outdoor venue.
Ky-Mani Marley is the only son to Bob Marley and Anita Belnavis, a Jamaican table tennis champion. His athletic genes must have helped him excel in sports. He played football for the University of Miami before following in his father’s musical footsteps. He plays a dancehall style of reggae. Marley recently opened Burning Spear’s final show, which was held at the Hollywood Bowl, promoter Paul Reder said.
Israel Vibrations was started in the 1970s by three boys who met in Jamaican polio hospital. Two of the three remain with the band, Lascelle “Wiss” Bulgin and Cecil “Skeleton” Spence, which is backed by the group Roots Radics. The band plays the classic roots-reggae style pioneered by Bob Marley and the Wailers.
Don Carlos is another legendary reggae artist from Jamaica. He began his career with Black Uhuru in 1973. His set at last year’s Lake Tahoe Reggae Festival was split in two parts due to a thunderstorm delay.
“Don Carlos is a foundational reggae singer,” said Mike Love, who also is on the bill. “The thing I really like about Don Carlos is that he is a humble man. Some guys who have been doing it a long time have a high-and-mighty attitude. Don Carlos is really warm hearted and a bright light of an individual, so I really respect him even more.
Love is influenced by classic roots-rock reggae.
“The reggae music that resonates with me is the spiritual classic music of Bob Marley and the Wailers, the Abyssinians, the Congos and Israel Vibration,” Love told Tahoe Onstage last year. “They are singing about spiritual things about separation and triumphs and revolution and about love.”
A native of O’ahu, Hawaii, where reggae sounds are ubiquitous, Love hails from a family of musicians. Like most islanders, his first instrument was ukulele. He started piano lessons at age 5, and played steel drum before picking up guitar.
