‘Positive Vibrations’ Night Goes Back to Reggae’s Roots

Though Milwaukee isn’t by any means known for itsreggae scene, the genre has maintained a steady enough presence at local clubsand bars that fans can catch a reggae DJ most nights of the week. Seeing areggae band live, though, is more of a challenge, says veteran reggae promoterDaudi Shabaka. That’s why after 10 years of hosting reggae nightsfirst at thelate Thai Joe’s, then at Club TimbuktuShabaka launched a new Wednesday nightshowcase for regional reggae bands at Mad Planet called “Positive Vibrations.”

“I think there needs to be aspearheaded move to return to live bands,” Shabaka says. “To me, live music andlive singing has a lot more spirit than DJs and prerecorded music can offer.”

In its inaugural weeks, “PositiveVibrations” has hosted Milwaukee’s best-knownreggae band, King Solomon, and the Chicagoroots ensemble Indika. On Wednesday, April 14, it will feature the Madison group RootsCollective.

“I’m trying to expose Milwaukee to other bands,” Shabaka says.“There are a lot of great bands right here in the Midwest area that don’t getexposure, so they don’t get bookings in Milwaukee,and people don’t see them, even though they’re great bands. The goal is to getthese bands to meet and congregate and mix it up a bit. The goal isn’t just toshowcase Milwaukeereggae, but reggae as a whole.”

When Shabaka booked and spun reggaeacross the street from Mad Planet at Club Timbuktu, he focused primarily ondancehall, but for “Positive Vibrations” the emphasis is squarely ontraditional roots reggae.

“A lot of Jamaican dancehall is reallyrough, veering toward hard rap, depending on the content,” Shabaka says. “A lotof it uses digital beats, too, so it doesn’t have that roots vibe that reggaemusic is best known for, and it doesn’t carry the same energy. Right nowthere’s really a push to go back to the foundation of reggae music: This isuniversal music, about one love and people coming together, and a lot ofdancehall just doesn’t convey that. It’s not music that brings people together.Even the reggae parties where they play popular dancehall, it’s not even aparty setting like it used to be, with people dancing together. The music ismore geared toward people just standing around. That’s why there’s a resurgencein roots music right now, with even some of the dancehall artists coming backto some of these old rhythms.

“Of all the venues that I know in thecity, Mad Planet is the most conducive to this type of event,” Shabaka adds.“It really has the old dancehall club type of feel: It’s dark, with a greatsound system, huge speakers and lots of room to dance.”