By Chris Hay 

Boss Sounds Festival was a weekend reggae festival in Newcastle. Reggae? In Newcastle? Oh yeah. Despite the cringeworthy sight of a huge number of skinny white Geordies dressed in rasta hats, Jamaica bandanas and naff Bob Marley jewelry, the music was thankfully more authentic. It all kicked off at 4 o’clock in the afternoon, but the crowd only really got buzzing when Ska Cubano came on stage at about 6. These guys know how to party, with about 12 of them jumping around on stage, and getting the crowd to unite in ridiculous ska dance moves. Fresh from Cuba, as they kept reminding us, they played music than can’t fail to make you happy. Ska, reggae, salsa, whatever you want to call it, it was upbeat, sunny and just a lovely small nugget of Cuba that warmed up grey drizzly Newcastle. Presumably seeing the severe lack of genuine rastas with real dreadlocks, one of the band came out with the classic line, ‘We don’t mind whether you have dreads on your head…or in your heart!’, thus making all us ‘rasta wannabes’ feel good about our inability to grow dreads…

After whipping the crowd into a frenzy with their version of Tequila, the stage was set for Natty, the next big thing from North London, bringing his version of reggae to the masses. I’d be lying if I said I was a fanatic of the reggae genre of which he fits most comfortably into. But you can’t help but be won over by Natty. This guy’s a natural live performer – from first song to last he worked the crowd brilliantly. Side to side, corner to corner, exuding such energy and passion for his music, it was so refreshing to see. He looks the part too, with dreads down to his waist swinging around seemingly with a life of their own. Admitedly his reggae isn’t reggae ‘proper’, it’s a new breed that gives it a slightly more accessible, poppy sound. Which is definitely not a bad thing, but it’s more Damien than Bob Marley…

His stage presence was backed up by his music, which was given a much bigger, up-tempo feel than is present on his debut album. Highlights of his set have got to be his new single Bedroom Eyes, Cold Town and July, but rather than the individual tracks, it’s the atmosphere he created that was so special. He got the crowd to dance like no-one was watching, which is no mean feat at gigs these days. Everyone had an inane smile on their faces – I hadn’t heard a few of the tracks before but I found myself singing along by the end. He’s just an incredibly engaging performer, and what makes him stand out is that he clearly believes in what he’s singing about. Racial inequality, slavery, revolution, or just girls with pretty eyes – when he sings about it, he means it. Between tracks, his chat to the crowd was incredibly heartfelt and endearing, a part of Natty which is echoed in his lyrics. Revolution was a beautiful slow song in the middle of his set, performed with the intimacy that it deserved. ‘Standing before me is a shadow of a man who dreamed of a revolution. I dreamed of a revolution,’ he sings poignantly.

All in all, a fantastic gig. The one slight problem I found with Natty’s live performance is that (with a few exceptions), his songs were all performed at a very similar tempo. Still, top gig, top artist. Now where’s my rasta string vest gone…?

http://www.myspace.com/skacubano

http://www.myspace.com/natty4d

Natty’s debut album Man Like I is out now.