THE NIGHT

Last night, I attended the Hibiscus Festival. It is an annual, weeklong festival, held in downtown Suva. The festival is geared towards children, as there are many carnival-like rides, including several very precarious ferris wheels. There is also a wide range of food booths, although most are of barbeque and candied popcorn. As with all festivals, the ground is a sloppy mud that cakes your footwear with grossness. (I’m being melodramatic; it wasn’t that bad; but, I did have to wash my sandals when I got back). For me, the point of interest was the Fijian arts stage, which had various musical and dance acts. I saw several dance troupes (which unfortunately performed to CDs, not live music), but the real highlight was the live music. The most notable act was a group called, The First Tribe – Fijian reggae band consisting of drums, auxiliary percussion, bass, guitar, keys and vocals; with the bassist, guitarist and keyboardist all providing the vocal harmonies.

The First Tribe covered Bob Marley’s “Small Axe” and “Africa Unite.” When the bass line of “Small Axe” began, I immediately recognized it: it just happens to be all-time favorite Bob Marley song. Hearing a cover of one of my favorite songs was a real treat: it definitely made my night. In addition to various Marley covers, The First Tribe played a handful of original numbers. While many of Bob Marley’s songs have a indisputable connection to Rastafarianism (the track “War” is almost verbatim a reading of a speech given by Haile Selassie, the central prophet of Rastafarianism), many of Marley’s songs have a broad sense of spiritualism. That is, his songs spoke of an Almighty God, but not necessarily in the context of a religious institution. Perhaps Marley understood that formalized religions sometimes alienate many people with their intricately strange rituals and strict hierarchies. Establishing a spiritual connection to the Divine does not always require the guidance of a man-made institution. This general concept seemed to be true with the original songs of The First Tribe: many of the songs had a very pious vibe to them, with no obvious connection to a specific religious institution. One such lyric sung: “Acknowledge Him / Who created you / Give thanks to Him / Who created you / Give praise to Him.”

After two seemingly nondenominational songs, the direction of the band changed. It became clear that The First Tribe had a heavy Christian influence, with lyrics like, “Jesus is the way / Jesus is the light,” and, “Come back sister / Come back brother / Let the Lord Jesus come and take each other / See the heart of the Lord / Happiness forever.” The crowd probably was 99% indigenous Fijian (not of Indian decent); but only about 5% seemed enthusiastic about the religious message. But those who were supportive of the Christian message would cheer when Jesus’ name was sung. It is interesting to see “Jesus reggae:” when I think of contemporary Christian music, I think of Christian rock, country music, and Southern Baptist gospel music. While I have heard of Christian rap before (it’s really okay if you haven’t), I have never heard of Christian reggae before.

Reggae music has a direct connotation to the Rastafari religion, not Christianity. While Bob Marley was born a Christian, his conversion to Rastafarianism had a major influence on his music. Fijian Christian reggae represents a marriage of popular religion with popular culture. From the institution’s perspective, this unification is logical. This fusion is not only accessible to the audience as the music genre is familiar, but also actively spreads the Christian message.

After I left the Hibiscus Festival, on my walk home, I wound up stopping at a reggae bar. The band, Cool Runnings, was a mix of Fijians and Australians, covering a range of artists, from Marley to Stevie Wonder. They actually sounded great, but I was too pooped to stay, so I called it a night.