29th annual JazzReggae Festival brings high energy despite rain

The 29th annual JazzReggae Festival embodied more music genres than what its name entailed. From alternative to hip-hop music, JRF broadened its lineup in its new home, the Los Angeles Tennis Center. Daily Bruin A&E’s Salus Kim and Ruhee Patel explored the one-day, eco-friendly festival, which featured a vendors village, live art and musical performances. Even with the rain and initial low turnout, attendance increased thanks to the high energy of the performers as day transitioned into night. From Wale looking for his extended family to Shwayze bringing his son onstage, we recap the highlights of JRF 2015.

– Salus Kim and Ruhee Patel, A&E contributors.

Food
This year’s food vendors ranged from Natraliart Foods’ Jamaican cuisines to Takoyaki Tanota’s Japanese dishes. We decided to try the satay burger on brioche buns with satay sauce from Simpang Asia Indonesian Restaurant and the dessert-waffle taco from Pop’d Up. The burger came with salty and flaky mixed roots chips that complemented the heavy taste of the mayo and satay sauce. The sheer size of the burger made the first bite difficult, but did not detract from the fulfilling flavors. For dessert, Pop’d Up’s waffle taco came with slices of juicy strawberries sandwiched between pieces of warm waffle sitting next to a scoop of vanilla ice cream and whipped cream. The crunch of the almonds sprinkled on top of the dessert was a nice touch to the treat that melted in the mouth.

Vendors Village and Art
The environmentally friendly village located in the tennis courts next to the center offered food, live art and merchandise. As we wandered around the vendors village, we couldn’t help but notice all the compost and recycling bins, which replaced the need for trash cans. There was an “Octopus” installation piece to represent the amount of plastic people contribute to pollution. The eco-friendly theme continued with bicyclists who created renewable energy for festivalgoers to recharge their phones. Live art was spread across three wooden boards depicting a geometric tape design by Los Angeles-based artist Flëkz, a shaka-showing gnome and a woman with draping fire-like hair.

UCLA Student Bands
On the second stage within the “village,” UCLA-based bands Apollo Soul, We the Folk and The Eva B. Ross Foundation along with artist Nick Valentini offered intimate sets during the early hours of JRF. As the only folk band at JRF, We the Folk delivered lively tunes with members playing violin, accordion and cello during its set. Loop Garou’s Nick Valentini took the stage with his bandmate Nick Velez. Velez said a lot of their original music has an emphasis on jazz and was improvised. Among the second stage acts, The Eva B. Ross Foundation, which performed without its dummer, drew the largest crowd as it performed original songs and covers like the Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back.”

Shwayze
Aaron Smith, otherwise known as Shwayze, livened the growing audience by performing with The Cataracs their songs, “Better Than Most Loves“ and “Love is Overrated.” As Shwayze made his way off stage to the barriers of the student section, the crowd screamed. After returning to the stage, Shwayze made audience members laugh by saying, “If I was a vegetable, I’d be a turnip.” The artist proceeded to tell the crowd he needed to watch his language and brought his son onstage. As his son came up, the sun came out from behind the clouds. Closing with his hit, “Corona and Lime,” Shwayze managed to get everyone on their feet and moving. Although his performance rendered more pop sounds than his usual hip-hop and R&B, he stood out as being the first to directly interact with audience members.

Lido
With his simple setup of keyboard and electronic pad, Peder Losnegård, known by his stage name Lido, emanated mellow vibes with his mix of self-proclaimed gospel and hip-hop music. His combination of sounds was hypnotic and garnered a larger and more enthusiastic crowd with popular songs “Money” and “Ain’t No Sunshine.” The Norwegian artist connected with his audience by revealing his recent move to Los Angeles, ending his set with a cover of Disclosure’s “Latch” to a cheering crowd.

Portugal. The Man
Although Portugal. The Man did not utilize the screen to project its performance for those sitting in the bleachers, the group was able to maintain the high energy level and rallied the largest crowd yet. Instead of depicting the band itself, the screen showed a series of colorful, flashy illustrations such as golden pyramids and numerous green faces merging together that ultimately created a trance-like effect. The indie rock group both started and ended its set with its hit, “Purple Yellow Red and Blue,” singing to the corresponding, alternating colors of the stage lights. The band also played “Modern Jesus” and “Creep In A T-Shirt,“ which the crowd responded to positively by jumping along to the beat.

Wale
As the last act of the night, Wale began his performance hidden from audience members. With a DJ spinning, the rapper appeared carrying an oversized champion’s belt. Several other performers joined Wale on stage to sing and rap with him for several songs like “Lotus Flower Bomb.” Wale engaged the audience by running onto the ground level of the tennis center supposedly searching for his “extended family” to match his song “Loyalty.” After handing out high fives, Wale finally made it back onstage and demanded the audience raise its hands as he snapped a photo of them.The artist performed original songs like “Ambition” and “90210” and covered Tyga’s “Rack City” by adding his own lyrics. Throughout his performance, Wale referred to marijuana and even visibly smoked twice during his set. Before leaving, Wale said “one love” to the audience, concluding this year’s festival.