by Coral Consciouslee
18th December 2015
I write with a now deeper respect for artists, DJs,
promoters, producers, engineers, musicians and all other aspects of the music
industry.
On Sunday 13th December 2015, Reggae Fraternity
UK had our very first major event. The preparation and work that went into it –
for me - was a boot camp training to what it takes to plan, arrange and host
an event. Let me tell you about the RFUK
Team of which I am honoured to be a member of.
The team consists of 7 individuals who share a passion for promoting
excellence and professionalism especially in UK Reggae. I am amongst 5 artists and one other who
between them have decades of musical experience, who also are creative in other
aspects and have professional qualifications in other fields to bring to the
table. Me? I am fortunate that for some
divine or universal reason I have been placed to be in this position.
Since April 2015 we have slowly but surely gained the
measure of each other, our strengths and abilities and how best to utilise what
we have between us for the good of the organisation. It’s voluntary, but the
keyword we use is “professionalism”. To
that end we have had to pull together in honesty and integrity to make sure we
deliver on the words that are spoken in our meetings or that one may see on our
facebook pages, blogs and on our website.
You can imagine what planning our first event was like. What I initially thought would be a simple
straightforward procedure (I tend to think very simplistically), had to be
broken down and planned very carefully to the tiniest detail. Can you imagine
the volume of phone calls, emails, Skype meetings and face to face meetings
that took place over the last few months – considering that RFUK only started
in April?
However as plans for the event started to take shape, I thought about
the artists and those who would be coming, would know and feel we had brought
this event together to show how much we thought of UK Reggae Artists and
hopefully give an insight in how things could work if we in the UK pulled
together.
For me it was an event that I will never forget. By 7pm, sound
check was complete, security and ticket collectors were ready, DJ Mikey Notch
from Thirdimension Sound (RJR Radio) was playing UK Reggae music, bar staff was
ready, the allocated artists area was secure.
We were ready and waiting. I
imagined the thought that goes through every promoters head as I walked through
the venue, checking and rechecking everything: Is anyone coming? If so, how
many were coming? More importantly WHAT TIME would they be coming?
We needn’t have worried.
As if planned, it seemed that everyone started arriving at the same
time. For the next couple of hours there
was a steady stream of artists, producers, promoters, members of the
public. It got so busy I didn’t realise
until the compere came on the stage that the place was full! When did that
happen? Not that I was complaining or
anything!
The artists were excellent! They sang as if they were at
Wembley Arena! I confess that sometimes I forgot that it was actually our event
and could be found at the front of the crowd, camera in hand screaming in
reckless abandon. I clapped my hands; I
clicked my camera and then would dash off to make sure everything was in
order. This wasn’t just somewhere where
artists got up and sang because there was a mic; the audience were treated to a
first class show. The atmosphere was
exciting, magical, electric, guaranteed to change whatever mood one was in,
into a happy, carefree one – even if only for a few hours.
One of my main pleasures at such events is watching artists
catch up with each other. I like
observing the men standing chatting and the women sitting together laughing and
listening to each other intently. Artists
are human too!
As I write, I look at my handbag and see the business cards
and contact details of artists and other individuals from the music industry
who wish to be involved with what Reggae Fraternity UK are trying to achieve –
I was given all of those cards last night.
Sunday night was a success.
Yes... there are things that we will tweak and improve upon, but we
achieved our goal. We showed that by uniting
and working together, by staying focused and having a common aim, we can
achieve great things indeed. We can
achieve an event where top UK Reggae Artists were more than happy to attend and
support the next generation of artists coming up. As I walked around the room, the celebrities
in attendance read like a who’s who in UK Reggae. All of this in a few short
months.
As we drove home, there was so much to reflect upon:
Promoting UK Reggae Excellence = Reggae Fraternity UK.
