Bass Odyssey brings ‘clashing and juggling’ to Sabina Park
SoundFEST showcases ‘eight big sound in one big lawn’
Published:Monday | February 13, 2023 | 12:35 AMYasmine Peru/Senior Gleaner Writer
Keith Walford, owner of Bass Odyssey Sound System, the sound that boasts that it is “from way out in the country”, is bringing its signature event to the big city this month, and fans are holding their breaths in anticipation of being marked present when “eight big sound pull up in one big lawn”
A Reggae Month event, which is endorsed by the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, SoundFEST unfolds on February 25 at Sabina Park in Kingston. Bass Odyssey Entertainment has partnered with GKG Entertainment – the production house behind the ‘90s hit event series, Yesterday – to bring this premium dancehall package to Jamaicans.
“We consider bringing SoundFEST to Kingston as another milestone for Bass Odyssey. We are bringing our own ideas to their market by putting the most recent clash winners and the popular juggling selectors on one stage. This is the Bass Odyssey model, clashing and juggling, and these are the biggest parts of the sound system business in 2023,” Walford, who started the sound in 1989 in Alexandria, St Ann, stated.
Bass Odyssey, the winners of the 2022 Reggae Sumfest Sound Clash, is hosting SoundFEST under the tag line #ThisIsDancehall. Walford’s daughter, Yaniq, the director for Bass Odyssey, is really the brains behind the event. Yaniq, who holds a master’s degree from the University of the West Indies, is the biggest sound fan, and supercommitted to the preservation of sound system culture.
SoundFEST, she explained, will feature Jamaica’s most prolific sound system music machines, international sound clash names and dancehall superstars. This line-up comprises winners of the biggest sound clashes around the world in 2022 and local household brands. Among them are Bass Odyssey, Warrior International, Dynamq, Killamanjaro, Swatch, Yardbeat, Ruff Cut and DJ Banka.
Quality and affordability, the organisers emphasise, are the two most important aspects, and they pledge that the music and production package will be “the best money ever spent on a dancehall show”. The goal is to “full up the lawn” with dancehall’s most loyal supporters, the average Jamaican. And, for those who want, VIP access and cabanas will also be available, as the event caters to all lovers of our music and culture.
“The entry fee is $2,000 presold general admission ... and, if we could go lower, we would,” Yaniq said.
She added, “Sound system is at the heart of our music culture. We bring this experience across the globe stamping our Jamaican footprint. I personally see it as a duty to invest in Jamaica as the mecca of sound system culture. Witness the spectacle of sound systems stringing up, the beauty of amps, speakers and tweeters tuned to play our musical arrangements and instruments. SoundFEST is ‘the event’ to fully immerse in our authentic music culture, from ska, rocksteady, reggae, dancehall and a mix of everything else Jamaicans enjoy listening to. The show is for the people.”
SoundFEST, the organisers and participants agree, is also for the culture. In a release, Oneil Miles, CEO Swatch International, is quoted as saying, “It’s about where we coming from, where we are now, and where we are heading in 2023 and beyond.”
Yaniq also shared that there will be a ‘15 minutes of fame’ social media DJ competition for up-and-coming DJs to showcase their skills.
“The finalists will get a chance to ‘buss the dance’ on the biggest sound system event platform in the world,” she said.