Forget St. Valentine’s Day. The real reason to get goose bumps in the middle of February has nothing to do with chocolate-dipped strawberries and overpriced roses. It’s strictly roots, baby, strictly roots and culture! Once again, Moss Jacobs does the world a divine favor and brings the 30th annual Ragga Muffins Festival to Long Beach for two days of the best live reggae, dub, dancehall and island-flavored jams this side of Waterhouse. Grab plenty of jerk chicken and ginger beer (the food vendors are crazy-good), to enhance the all-killer, no-filler lineup. As always, Ragga Muffins brings us reggae heroes from the golden age (this year’s roster includes legends Bunny Wailer, Cornell Campbell, Freddie McGregor, Israel Vibration and Don Carlos), plus new-school upstarts such as Rebelution and The Green to keep things fresh. Gentleman’s rootsy dancehall impressed me mightily about two years ago and he’s sure to do the same for his set on Sunday. Vintage heads take notice that Kevin Isaacs, the son of Gregory “The Cool Ruler” Isaacs is also scheduled to perform—chip off the ol‘ block, eh? Arena kinda cloudy. (Michael Carlos)
IF YOU GO
When/Where: Doors open 2:30PM, Feb. 19-20 at Long Beach Arena, 300 E. Ocean Blvd.
Info: Call (562) 436-3661 or go to www.raggamuffinsfestival.com.
