One such cool and attractive person strolls towards me and I recognize her as Amira El Sineity, lead singer of the Swedish reggae band Roots By Nature, who was the festival's opening performance.

I asked her how she became invited to perform at this year’s festival.

“I sent our CD to Yared and couldn’t believe it when he later called me with our music playing in the background,” she replied with a warm smile. “We were so honoured to be first, to have been given that trust.” 

Having visited the festival before she describes it as "such a kid friendly event" and "understands that the police need to keep order but everyone needs to cooperate for it to work." As I take a few photos of Amira, some people recognise her and she happily signs autographs.

Erik Thyselius (left) who writes the blog svenskreggae.blogspot.com spoke highly of Roots By Nature.

“They deserved a better time slot as they were the first band to perform and the crowds had not yet arrived, it’s a shame as I hope they get a lot of attention.“ He was less complimentary of Misty In Roots who he felt was "a bit sleepy."

Well, there was no chance of me getting sleepy as I continued towards the tent stage where there was an echoing sound of thumping beats and a cheering crowd.

I like surprises.

This was my third visit to the reggae festival so I kind of know what to expect and it’s the surprises I like. No the rain wasn’t a surprise, nor the queues at Back A Yard. I wasn't even surprised by the power cuts that affected day one.

It was surprises like the sight of Messob, an Ethiopian and Eritrean restaurant, which was there to offer a more flavorful palate.

And the crowd's reaction to reggae singer Alaine.

Although Alaine was a featured artist with VoiceMail (Craig Jackson and Kevin Blaire) she performed her own songs solo; Heavenly, Rise In Love, and a personal favourite, Deeper.

To describe the crowd as ‘going crazy’ is an understatement!


Alaine was a big hit

Bodies pushed forward towards the stage as three stage guards patrolled and sensibly offered water to those in the front. It was not so smart for the tallest guard of the three to stand in the middle in front of the artist. Even so, nothing could have distracted this audience, and they whooped, cheered and screamed as the high-heeled singer performed soulful reggae with many singing along.

Lighters were held high to certain songs and the girl beside me held her glass aloft, closed her eyes and swayed.

Alaine herself was clearly taken aback by the crowds reaction and she paused to smile broadly as if trying to take it all in.

The climax came when she exclaimed, “I’m moving to Sweden!”- the place erupted. She was being loved and she loved them in return.

It was a wonderful atmosphere to be in and it was lucky VoiceMail followed her with an energetic Dancehall sound presentation. VoiceMail gave a strong performance despite having recently lost group member Oneil Edwards in a horrendous robbery in Jamaica.

When I later spoke to Alaine backstage she explained that "they had been traveling a lot over Europe and the reaction from the Uppsala crowd was by far the best."

Now it was my turn to smile proudly.

Big up Uppsala!


Andy Collins