I Was There - Yellowman

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Here we go again, another all-nighter coming on, which means, of course, that I spend some time watching You Tube videos of shows I’ve been to. I just found this one last night - the 23rd annual Soul Rebel festival, last summer, at Levitt Pavilion in Denver. And it was a free concert. I’ve been to a couple of these, a reggae festival, and a good time. This edition featured good sets from local bands Mono Verde Collective (Latin reggae band) and Boulder’s Selasse and FaFa Family. Legendary Jamaican reggae vocal group Link & Chain also put on a good performance. But for me, the main reason I went was to see Yellowman. Yellowman (Winston Foster OD) is considered by many to be Jamaica’s top toaster (usually associated with Dancehall reggae.) He is best known for reggae hits such as “Zungguzungguguzungguzeng,” “Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt,” and “I’m Getting Married in the Morning,” and a cover of Fats Domino’s “Blueberry Hill,” among others. Yellowman is an albino, which is normally shunned in Jamaica. He has battled skin cancer, which had at one point spread to his jaw. He had to have major surgery on said jaw, which left his face permanently disfigured. I had never seen Yellowman before, so that was one more on my checklist. I’m glad I went, even if that meant running into my ex at the show. Link is to the official Soul Rebel video. It’s a video camera operator wandering the festival to give you the feel. I’m in the video, near the beginning (I’m wearing all black and standing just to the left side of the stage in the front.) and later a couple times when the footage changes to the stage during Yellowman’s set. Lots of footage of the toaster if you are so inclined: