The Rototom Sunsplash roar takes off. The 28th edition of the international reggae festival kicks off this Wednesday, August 16, at the Benicàssim concert venue with an artistic line-up in perfect symbiosis with legends of Jamaican music and the most promising talent of the reggae scene.
The intact and magical voice of Don Carlos will guide the first staging of Rototom Sunsplash 2023. Considered one of the main protagonists of Jamaican music in the 70’s and 80’s, both as a founding member of Black Uhuru and through his remarkable solo career full of immortal hits, Don Carlos will be opening the acts on the Main Stage at 8.15 pm, which will be followed at 10.00 pm by the talent of the Barcelona-born Lia Kaliwho has already made a name for herself in Spain with her voice full of expressive abilities and her original sound proposal, which fuses hip hop and soul influences.
The magic of the spirit of Bob Marley, the most important reggae artist in history, comes to the Main Stage at 11.15 pm, with Junior Marvin & The Legendary Wailers. The talented musician, who played the guitar in Bob Marley’s band during his triumphant world tours in the 1970s, revisits in his concert the immortal songs of the king of reggae.
Lila Iké, one of the most talented Jamaican female artists of recent years and proof of the contribution to reggae of the younger generation, will round off the Main Stage line-up on this first day. Lila Iké impresses with her great temperament and her ability to hit and caress at the same time with her beautiful voice and her stage presence.
The Lion Stage will welcome Jaz Elise at 9.15 pm, definitely one of the great revelations of Jamaican music in recent years. Thanks to her eclecticism, her voice adapts comfortably to reggae atmospheres as well as to the sensuality she expresses when she tackles soul and R&B tunes.
Continuing with the national talent, the Rototom presents a double staging. The Catalans Boom Boom Fighters & Cookah P will revolutionize the Lion Stage at 10.30 pm with their irresistible and innovative mix of classic reggae and energetic dancehall rhythms, inspired by the Jamaica of the 90s. Shortly after midnight, at 00.15 am, Juantxo Scalari & La Rude Band, one of the country’s leading ska bands, will appear on stage. With a trajectory dating back to 1994 and lyrics impregnated with social commitment, their ska shows reminiscences of the Jamaican classics of the sixties, but also of the British Two Tone new wave.
Another star will arrive at the Lion Stage at 2.15 am. Hollie Cook , daughter of Paul Cook, Sex Pistols’ drummer, and Jeni, Culture Club’s backing singer in the 80’s, will bring her enveloping reggae ‘tropical pop’, which links with the sound of the golden years of British asyncopated music.
The new Jamkunda Stage and its Jamkunda Night, with Dj Douds, Dj Patricia and Dj Owey, will also present a powerful sound. On the other side, the Dancehall area will vibrate on this first day with the Sudanese Dynamq, one of the stars of the current ‘afrobeat’, which lands with his exciting mix of Jamaican dancehall, African regional environments and world pop that is emerging worldwide due to his spontaneity and freshness. Meanwhile, the Dub Academy will feature Italy’s Paolo Baldini, an established talent on the world dub scene thanks to his Dub Files project, through which he mixes and composes his music live, creating something new, different and exciting in each performance. He is accompanied by the voices of Mellow Mood, the Italian band most followed and appreciated abroad, that Baldini has produced since their beginnings.
Presentation of ‘Treasure Island’
Without leaving aside the musical aspect, the Reggae University will kick off its agenda with a screening of Tommaso D’Elia’s ‘We must change the world’ (Italy, 2023) and a celebration of the iconic Ariwa label, which Mad Professor has directed in London for the past 50 years, followed by a master class given by himself, which will allow the audience to participate in a practical way. This first day will also include the exclusive presentation of the Spanish book‘La Isla del Tesoro’. History of 20th Century Jamaican Music‘ (2023, Caligrama), with Carlos Monty, Ragnampaisser, Doctor Decker and David Katz.
All this musical take-off will be preceded by the opening of the Rototom Sunsplash’s extra-musical areas, the familiar Magicomundo and the Teen Yard , aimed at teenagers, which this year expands its skate park area and includes a parkour citcuit, as well as the Artisan Market, which bursts with the first workshops to be filled with a message of peace.
Besides, the Rototom Sunsplash open-air restaurant returns with 40 gastronomic world proposals, together with the colorful festival market, a labyrinth of alleys in which to get lost and where to find a thousand and one unique items, with author seal: from leather and handmade jewelry, to natural soaps and handmade incense, plus a tattoo studio on wheels and a rasta hairdresser, or an African custom-made tailor stall and clothing for any style.