Bequia Music Fest

January 27th, 2015

What is it about a Caribbean music festival that is so attractive to us?  Could it simply be the setting on an island with sunshine and warm breezes, the promise of hearing some great live music, the chance to be a part of the local scene and “get in on the action”?, or maybe it’s just the fact that we can get there in our own boat.  Whatever the attraction is, we’re hooked.  The 15^th annual Bequia Music Fest ended last week and we’re still talking about it.  We read about it last year when we were in the northern Caribbean and thought it might be something to pencil in on the calendar.  After checking the dates again when we were back in Trinidad, a stop in Bequia around festival time was definitely possible as we plan to sail north through the islands this year.  Bequia ranks pretty high with other cruisers we’ve met so we wanted to spend some time on the island at some point – why not during Music Fest?  We arrived three days before the festival started and found plenty of room in the anchorage.  It quickly filled up over the next several days as more cruisers and charter boats filtered in. 

Trail up to De Reef

Trail down from De Reef

The opening night kicked off with the Elite Steel Orchestra at the waterside restaurant Frangipani.  This first event was free and the venue was packed equally with cruisers and locals.  The music was lively and the crowd fully engaged.  When the music stopped at Frangipani, a quick stroll down several streets revealed numerous local clubs playing all sorts of dance music at full volume.  We learned firsthand that these clubs stay open until the wee hours of the morning.  

The next night the action moved to the main venue, De Reef, which is a beach bar/restaurant at the end of Lower Bay.  Our boat was anchored about 300 yards away.  This was a Friday night so the place was packed, again with locals and cruisers.  The main act for the night was the London Blues Band, fronted by Dana Gillespie, a longtime British blues singer with quite a stage presence.  Aside from her main band, a number of guest players joined her all night long, most of which were still in the Grenadines after performing at the Mustique Blues Festival a few weeks earlier.  While De Reef is a pretty large venue for a beach establishment, two large projection screens were provided behind the state to accommodate the large crowd.  The music was amazing.

The music on Saturday kicked off with a free afternoon show at the Bequia Beach Hotel in Friendship Bay on the south side of the island.  It was a nice mile long hike from where we landed our dinghy.  There was a small stage near the beach with mostly local players who turned the afternoon into a long jam session.  The cruiser crowd was in full force and didn’t mind the more free-form music.  It was a good warmup for the evening which was back to De Reef venue.

NJ30+

NJ30+ - our favorites

The lineup that night included Edwin Yearwood, the Nicholas Brancker Project, both fronting high energy Socca bands.  A local Bequia blues man, Toby Armstrong performed next.  He was a crowd pleaser with chops that would hold up in any blues circuit in the States. His bad slowly gave way to the powerhouse group NJ30+, a six piece group from Barbados.  NJ30+ refers to New Jazz, three members and more.  With a blend of fusion jazz, socca, and quite a bit of funk these guys could play.  What’s remarkable about them is their youth.  The two sax players and trumpet man are in their mid 20’s, all of which have chops way beyond their years.  The local blues man Toby  Armstrong is evidently a friend of the group as he joined them for several numbers.

Beachside at De Reef

Sunday was the last day and the music kicked off at 12:30 at De Reef.  The Bequia Kids Steel Pan Orchestra, the Bequia Blues Band, and several local favorites preceded the headliner, Caribbean Socca legend, Winston Soso.  He’s been around for a while but he still knows how to work the crowd into frenzy.  At the close of Saturday’s show, we were informed that a special surprise guest would be appearing on Sunday.  Halfway through Winston Sosa’s last set, I saw the young horn players from NJ30+ huddled in a corner with their instruments, so I knew we hadn’t seen the last of them.  Yep, NJ30+ was the special guest to finish off the festival.  I didn’t think it was possible, but they brought more energy to the stage than the night before – these young guys are monsters. 

The Bequia Music Fest is definitely on our calendar for 2016.  What we liked about the festival were the small venues, all of which we could walk to.  Also, the level of organization was good which included a good website, numerous flyers and posters around the town, and big sense of anticipation from most of the locals.  We met quite a few tourists who fly in and stay for several weeks just to take in the festival and have been doing it for years.  Tickets were reasonable and there was no food and beverage price gouging.  Oh, and the music was world class.