Reggae event requires outdoor led lighting
Reggae music is a genre of music which first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s, and has since spread all around the world and influenced a number of other music styles and cultures. Ever since the early 1980s, reggae has developed a high level of popularity in many western countries and has picked up many new fans along the way. Musicians like UB40 and Maxi Priest have taken on the reggae style and used it to create a western style of popular music with a distinctive reggae feel. Along with this direct influence, a number of reggae and dancehall events are regularly held in western countries, often in outdoor or semi-outdoor settings. Garden lights, Jamaican food, and Jamaican flags are often seen at these events as a way to create the authentic and distinctive feeling associated with reggae music and culture.
While reggae music is seen as a distinctive musical entity outside of Jamaica, it can be hard to distinguish both historically and stylistically from other forms of Jamaican music. Reggae originated as a development of the ska and rocksteady styles, and is based on an off-beat rhythm known as a skank, with accents on the second and fourth beat of each bar. The lyrics of reggae songs are quite diverse and cover a wide range of topics, although love, religion, relationships, and politics are common issues represented through reggae music. Reggae music and culture have a strong link to the Rastafari religious movement, and many spiritual issues relating to Rastafarianism are sung about in reggae songs.
Some of the reggae musicians who have become household names across the world include Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Lee Perry. Many western bands and musicians have also been heavily influenced by reggae music and culture, with The Beatles, Eric Clapton, and the entire punk rock scene in the 1980s all being influenced by the brilliance of reggae music. Many festivals and outdoor parties across Europe, Australasia, and America feature dedicated reggae stages, complete with outdoor led lighting and Jamaican decor. Reggae stages are a regular feature at outdoor electronic dance festivals in particular, where ambient reggae areas are set up with coloured lights and bass heavy sound systems.
Many people associate reggae with the 1980s, however reggae music and culture are still going strong in Jamaica and all across the world today. Reggae music is still influencing many other styles of modern music, and is helping to inspire and define the collective makeup of global popular culture.