Dominica staged the 15th World Creole Music Festival last weekend with big musical acts like Bunji Garlin and Faye-ann Lyons, Third World, Carimi, Gyptian and Jeff Joseph and Grammacks New Generation owning the stage and thrilling the crowd.
Patrons of the festival were also treated to a number of local acts and cultural performances as the various agencies charged with marketing Dominica put the country on display in an epic fashion with broadcasts on local and regional radio stations and on the internet.
A lacklustre effort by former UB40 front-man Ali Campbell on Day One of the festival, however, seemed to stir bittersweet reactions from patrons as they cheered loudly and wildly when he sang UB40 hits like ‘Red, Red Wine’ and ‘Kingston Town’, but some fans who admitted to having paid and attended solely for his act echoed boos often, relaying their utter disappointment.
Campbell further compounded matters when he snubbed the media, refusing to do any flash interviews or the post-performance press conference, claiming that his expressed rights had been violated when patrons and photographers snapped full frontal photos of him.
Strong performances from featured artists Kolo Barst, Jeff Joseph and Grammacks, compas group Harmonik and particularly WCK, who took the show to daybreak, quickly overshadowed this incident and set the stage for a successful first day of the WCMF.
Immediately following his performance lead singer of Harmonik Mac-D said of the Festival, “It was really great, I really enjoyed it. It surprised me. First it’s a cultural thing and it reminds me of [Haiti], because it’s similar to a lot of what we do there, the difference is here it’s in English. The crowd was really nice, I can’t complain. We’ll be willing to come back again next year.”
In Cameron Pierre Dominica has one of the finest guitarist performing in the UK today. When is he goimng to be given a shout?
Shadow I like your reesponse to B.L… Ali Campbell was reading the lyrics of his songs.what a fake.
Sadly Ali Campbell’s behaviour with the local press last friday about right and pictures, turn a bad taste on UB40 the band he left his former band mates said its not good for their reputation what he did..overall
as its unlike totaly UB40 vibes indeed..but sadly Ali Left over money issues,wanting UB40 to fire all its management which the band didnt.since 2005 they havent being in the charts,the music industry has changed musicans dont sell albums like before due to the internet age,so UB40 had to cut back and make business adjustments,Tours are what sells now in the showbiz, Ali refused the costing cutting measure, and sadly walk out on his school friends, the band lost a few millons when that happend as they had projects line up..
He doesnt own any rights in UB40 he was just their frontman,actualy the songwriters are still in UB40.
The band have replaced Ali with his Bro Duncan who had to join UB40 when they started in 1978, the Campbell family come from a great folk singing background.
UB40 is alive and kicking upcoming album due in 2012…currently the band has sold over 100 million copies world wordwide.
In the UK they are rated the fourth successful British Bands, ranking in the Likes of the Beatles,Lengendary Rolling Stones and Led Zeppellin.
UB40 is a family and extremly laided back bunch of guys indeed.the UBs are like next door neighbours
WELLL WELLLLL WELLLL
W
C
K
SURELY DIDNOT DISAPPOINT THE THOUSANDS WHO CAME OUT TO FEEL DEM FOR YET ANOTHER TYME FOR YET YEAR ON AHUDA STAGE THE UNSTOPPABLE KINGS OF BOUYON MUSIC STEAL THE SPOTLIGHT WITH A PROFESSIONAL THRILLING MOVING MOUTH WATERING PERFORMANCE TO PROVE ONCE MORE THAT THEYRE ONE OF THE BIGGESR BANDS IN THE CARIBBEAN!
MORE TO COME 2K12 I IM HEARING TALK BEHIND THE SCENES OF THE FOTOCOPY hit single.
The Man performed great. Whatever DNO said about the man was booed i was there and i never heard any booes so i wonder why you guys go and published that. Everybody appreciated the man’s performance he came back and give us two mega hits in the closing where everybody toes we off the ground dancing and singing away to kingston town and red red wine.
The fact that Ali seems to be getting all the bad press over the split in the mainstream media tells me that theres more to the split than meets the eye.So what if Ali wanted to sack the men in suits(money men)…..so would I,they only hold artists back….always have done.
CREOLE FESTIVAL SUCKED !!!!!!!
EVERYONE COULD NOT BE IN DOMINICA
WE PAYED TO VEIW AND ALL WE GOT
WAS DUE TO THE COPYRIGHT UNABLE TO STREAM
LOCAL ARTIST DID IT TO……. SO HOPE WHEN
THEY TRAVEL TO THE STATES WE DO THE SAME TO
THEM DONT SUPPORT THEM……. AND THEY TALK
‘
ABOUT COPYRIGHT BUT STILL SINGING OTHER
PEOPLES SONGS…………. TRIPPLE K
YOU DONT EVEN KNOW HALF OF WHAT THEY SAY
SWINGING STARS ALL SEE IN MONEY….
I SAY IF YOU WANT CREOLE FEST YOU NEED TO
BE AT CREOLE IN THE PARK……..
sorry that it happened that way, but creole festival is not responsible for what u paid for. they are responsible for the people who were in the park in dominica. I paid my $20.00 too but guess what, NUMUSIC ZONE is the one recieving the money that we paid. I am satisfied with what i saw and respect the performers right on whether or not to broadcast their performance. It is just like we have to respect the copyright sign on a cd or a movie. So consider, u paid $20. U.S. that is $52 and think of how much they paid the ticket back home.
You have to know what you buying, who is selling it to you…ask THEM for your money back! I can’t believe you fell for that. Yo kyonew! I’m sure U won’t do that again. Just listen on radio.
The Festival was massive and Large. BIG UP WCMF!
well if only you know the money dosnt matter
to me!!!!!! its the performers if you do it in dominica do it every where you play ok
because these jamaicans artist are seen all
over where you go
and as a matter of fact they shouldnt be there because they dont belong in (CREOLE
FESTIVAL)
CAMERON PIERRE – one of the finest musicians with an elusive quality of being able to play the past, present and future styles of jazz – without a doubt he is one of the finest JAZZ GUITARIST to be produced by Great Britain.
When, when, oh when will we ever see Cameron Pierre perform /grace our shores…
Born in London, Cameron was raised on the Caribbean island of Dominica to Dominican parents (Father hails from Marigot and Mother hails from Soufriere). Here’s the reason why Dominica should embrace what’s rightfully their – the joy of Cameron Pierre:
To a significant number of people, jazz guitarist Cameron Pierre is the face of British Jazz guitarists. His latest album ‘Radio Jumbo’ (just released) is already getting great reviews from the musical fraternity, boosting his career and profile as it continues to rise. Pierre works around the world and with numerous artists from other countries. His style has never stayed still either, moving from conventional jazz, through reggae, soul, soca, zouk and cadence over the years. One of Pierre’s more singular achievements has been his ability to receive recognition in America, a rare honour for a British jazz musician. He has earned such respect by his work with US artists such as vocalist Cassandra Wilson and pianist Geri Allen, plus recording albums in New York. Pine is also well known as a live artist, spending a lot of time touring, not only the UK but also areas not usually associated with British jazz artists such as South America, Eastern Europe and Asia. Along with his considerable record sales, Pierre has gained a number of awards such as Best British Guitarist at the Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Awards, degree from The University of Westminster plus being recognised for his services to jazz music. Cameron Pierre is source of inspiration to many musicians and his position in the firmament of British jazz is certainly assured.
Tuesday, 1st November 2011
The compentancy in sound engennering for local bands need to be address by the authourites this is getting way out of hand now local acts just not seem to be able to delive because those incompentent local sound men screwing up their performance
Creole in the park was a disaster crappy sound combined with sloopy engennering and the same sloopy engennering was carried accros to the world creole music festival some people need to be identified and banned from engennering local b$ands
Big deal you guys know the creole we talking about has to do with our french heritage. Stop being patronizing. Let’s face it, I love reggae,first saw Third World over 30years ago and have seen them in a number of different countries/ islands. Just don’t see their place or reggae in this festival.Stop being a bunch of hypocrites. Nothing against reggae acts, just a time and place for it all. Keep creole festival creole.
I knew that Ali Campbell would have been a waste of time…Steven Marley next year will be a good pick…One Love
you mean damien marley.. i dnt want to see steven
ADMIN, YOU SHOULD RECANT THAT STORY BECUASE ,YOU HAVE THE ISSUE ALL WRONG. ALI CAMPBELL OF UB40 GAVE THE BEST PERFORMANCE ON THE OPENING OF CREOLE FESTIVAL. HE MADE MY NIGHT. WITH HIS PERFORMANCE I ACKNOWLEDGED THAT MY MONEY WAS WELL SPENT. THE AUDIENCE BOOED THE MAN BECAUSE HE TOLD THE MEDIA THAT HE DID NOT WANT HIS PICTURE TAKEN. DNO, DO NOT DESTORY THE MAN’S REPUTATION. I AM HAPPY THAT I SAW THIS GREAT MUSIC ICON IN PERFORMANCE.
Big Lie, where were you standing. Ali Campbell spend the whole night READING THE LYRICS OF EVERY SONG ON A TELEPROMPTER. PLEASE!!
I don’t understand Ali Campbell! After the fans paid their big money to come and hear him, he complains that they violate his rights because they take photos of him. But he was on stage performing at a public concert for which people paid their monies. What he expect? If he didn’t want his photo taken, why he came here in the first place. Festival Commission, learn a lesson. Do not invite the types like Ali Campbell to the WCMF. His music in not even creole, regardless of the wide definition given to the term.
Icemilk, what does Prince or Sting have to do with Jazz.. What do WCK or Triple K have to do with Creole? They draw a crowd, grow up, the event is obviously so far beyond your limited horizons you can’t comprehend. It is a showcase and one day, a money maker, once the number of freebies is again cut down and acts like Campbell get excised.
As to Ali, refused photos and press, straight off the stage into the car and gone. His horn section looked bored as sin, just going through the motions, he had a 27 inch teleprompter on stage, and for those of us close enough, most of the songs were karaoke style. Most of the songs he attempted to sing were not his, UB40 owns the rights to them, not him, and yes, Red Red Wine is a cover too. (Neil Diamond from the 60’s)
I listened to the majority(what was available to be streamed) of the Creole Fest. online congratulations to the media houses for carrying the shows great job great job to the artists and bands that made it what it was ….however i think there is room for constructive criticism first off the addition of Jamaican artist i know the arguement can be made of there type of music being “creole” in the broad aspect of things but still i think the contracts signed between the artists and those bringing them in to perform should include certain clauses I’m a big fan of dancehall and reggae music but i didn’t enjoy the performance of Bounty Killer the least bit it was quite distasteful for that setting but that’s my opinion i think there are a lot of other songs he could have performed to get a good/better crowd response secondly the artists refusal to do pictures while performing and interviews pre and post show i think they owe the paying public at least that much seeing the price they pay to come see the shows and not just tickets to get into the park but travel expenses etc. Also the censoring of certain broadcasts although i have no idea of how the copyright laws or there personal contracts they have with there own managements and promoters affect them performing at the WCMF but i think these are things that the promoters and organizers of the Festival need to look into more in depth come 2012 festival….. i might be wrong in some of my observances or comments i stand to be corrected but thats how i see it from my minds eye…again Congrats to the organizers performers bands media houses and everybody else who made the World Creole Music Festival a success this year….
@ ICEMILK, I was where and I can tell you that you missed a great well put together festival. For instance, I’ve seen 3rd World so many times, grew tired of hearing/seeing them but when they came on stage with Sata massa ganna as their intro….woo woo woo, that WCMF sound system was engineered by a guy from Mabouchay, Dominica (he once played drums for Culture) ohhh…that boy blew the festival apart with a mass of Fat and well engineered sound that gave me renewed respect and admiration for 3rd World. It was massive and large!
The African lady Dobet Gnahore was quite a treat, a moving performance that really left us speechless. WCMF even made Gyptian sound and look like a big star. Zouke All-Stars rocked the place real good. I wish they would bring back some Soukous acts like Sakis, but I must say you really missed a great show.
I meant to say “I was there”..but i fat-finguered it, U ketch my drift.
nice pix… but why do the watermarking have to be on the images main focus… they could post them in lower corner… beside anyone can download these pix and move the watermarks…
Ali Campbell WAS the voice/face of UB40. The band has in the past received nothing but praise for their performances. Shame that his performance is now being described as ‘lackluster’.
Didn’t personally hear him sing this time, but have in the past. I supposed he had other things on his mind, like the fact that the originally UB40 , are now in liquidation.
Which is sad for a band with a worldwide following, having sold over 60 odd million records.
I wish him (and his new band)luck in the future.
Ali Campbell will sure pay for his back stabbing his old school friends of UB40 leaving them for more monies and telling them off that we will make 10 times more…
his has done some strange things…i would have never gone to see him as i know its not the real deal…make shift stuff..
I knew Ali Campbell would s*ck, we tried to tell them thru our comments on DNO before they sealed the contract, it’s just not the same UB40 ‘sound’. But I’m sure it was worth the business risk, and then…he ‘blew’ it.
Hey, not because Ali Campbell snubbed the media for you guys to give the impression that the performance was lackluster. For most of us who came to the show to listen to the man (not to take photos for reprint) we enjoyed the music. It’s also funny that you refered to Campbell’s performance as lackluster, but could not say the same for Gypsian, which to my mind was far worst.
Chupes at you ice milk creole does not represent french only Campbell issues is his not we Dominicans or the DFC own what is clear is that he wont be Back
Who the eff is Ali Campbell? Sacre copawayson san wayson.
That good for dominicans. ALI CAMPBEL SHOULD SPIT ON ALL A U. HE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH CREOLE. WHY DONT THE ORGANIZERS JUST SEND FOR CREOLE BANDS ONLY…. AND LEAVE THOSE JAMAICAINS AND THOSE ENGLISH FOR ANOTHER TIME. LET CREOLE MUSIC BE CREOLE MUSIC. THATS WHY I BOYCOTT FEST LAST YEAR AND THIS YEAR. SHAME ON THE ORGANIZERS OF CREOLE FESTIVAL.
U STUPID
Idiot, you do kno that creole does not only refer to French Patois….right?…..PPL refer to other dialects as creole too…..including Jamaican patois……
–The More You Know!
TEACH THEM GRAMMA GO THEY DONT KNOW SH** LOL
creole is a language developed between slave masters and slaves for better communication and u are right, there is also dutch creole and other creole languages