Roots and Culture tour pulls out a crowd in Berlin

Reggae star Lutan Fyah delivered a mesmerising performance on the first night of the ‘Roots and Culture’ tour at Club Maaya in Berlin, Germany earlier this month.

Leading off with Garvey-centric anthems like ‘Africa’ and ‘Beat Dem’, he whipped the predominantly white audience into a frenzy with his hard-hitting roots sound. The audience was dotted with black faces and one particular black man waved a huge flag in tandem with the music, while his white frau bubbled beside him.

The white fans were in perpetual motion throughout the performance, some choosing to sway side to side, others high-stepped and did awkward skanks to the music, while some just jumped in place, picking up their tempo into a manic leap during the deejay verses of the songs.

There was definitely a pervading sense of togetherness and love, and white couples could be seen hugging each other in the crowd to the sweet reggae music as Lutan Fyah crooned 'Rasta Reggae Music'.

The artiste was in somewhat of a rare form that night, and his voice cut like a razor through the columns of blue-gray smoke inside the club. He presented his songs to the 300-plus-strong crowd with great command and impeccable timing.

He also took time out to plug his 'Strength and Resilience' album, which is out on all streaming platforms, and performed the title single to loud cheers and applause from the audience.

He was able to invoke a feeling of human charity and goodwill to all, despite class, colour or creed. He sat down on a speaker box and reasoned with the people during the soul-stirring 'My Heart Cries', advocated for better wages on 'Minimum Wages', and chided the 'Boss Man' for his constant enforcement of class oppression.

Lutan Fyah closed his set with touching 'Mama Love' and 'Touch the Road'.

Earlier, Jah Mason showed much energy and verve during  his set. He earned one of the biggest forwards for the night with his timeless anthem, 'My Princess Gone'. He had the audience singing the song word for word.

Jah Mason

"Ah positive vibration ting mi de pon, mi no de pon the foolishness, me set the ting straight: principle, respect, love, togetherness, so we do it," he said before launching into  'When There is Hope'.

Jah Mason charged the atmosphere inside the club with his hits, ‘Farmer Man’, ‘Wheat and Tears’ and ‘Mi Chalwa’, with his high-energy deejay style, high-stepping kicks and leaps keeping the audience engaged throughout his set.

He took to time out to talk, and reminded the audience to farm, despite the tough winters, because of the value of food security in these turbulent times.

Emerging fusion reggae singer Zhayna opened the show with the Free People Band, and impressed with her clear, sharp vocals. She used every inch of the stage well as she did songs such as ‘Runaway’, ‘Before Daylight’, ‘Go’, and ‘Trip’.

Zhayna

She closed well with her latest singles, ‘Attention’, ‘Outside’, and her interpolation of the Barrington Levy-Bounty Killer hit, ‘Living Dangerously’.

The tour moved on to the city of Dortmund in Germany, before chugging into the cities of Groningen and Utrecht in The Netherlands days after.