Coasting

NEWS & VIEWS

By AC Weekly Staff

Add Comment | Comments: 0 | Posted Aug. 17, 2006

This Is Reggae Music

On Sunday, Aug. 20, the Hilton brings Reggae Sunsplash, Jamaica's biggest party, to town. Since 1978, the event has been to Jamaica what Mardi Gras is to New Orleans. Much of the country's culture and cuisine will be flying in to AC, including art and craft work, as well as almost any type of animal that you can eat jerked or curried.

The music line-up will feature Maxi Priest, Toots and the Maytals, Third World and England's UB40. Longtime UB40 band member Terence "Astro" Wilson explains how the band's reggae music came out of Birmingham, U.K. back in the late 1970s. "Where we lived the clubs, pubs, dance halls kept reggae music in the air non-stop from Friday to early Monday morning," he says. "We would sneak out and hear those bands. When we started our band there was no question about playing reggae; there was no second choice."

Astro says he's excited about the new emerging reggae stars like Sean Paul, but would like to see more "new bands coming out," too. Maybe one will form at the Hilton on Sunday.

-- Raymond Tyler

DJ Expo Returns to AC

The International DJ Expo is heading back to Atlantic City and is slated to be the largest event of its kind in the city.The four-day expo, which will unite DJs and producers from all over, will be packed with seminars, showcases of the newest available equipment, the annual DJ of the Year competition and sponsored parties that will be held at some of the hottest clubs in town. Standouts who will attend this year's expo include keynote speaker Bryan Dodge, best known for his expertise in self-improvement, and DJ re-mixer and producer Tommie Sunshine. DMC World Team champions, C2C, will also appear. The expo will be held Aug. 21-24 at the AC Convention Center; onsite registration is still available. For complete event schedule visit www.djtimes.com.

-- Lauren Muskett

AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
Photos By KEVIN MCCARTY

Gnarls Barkley's Cee-Lo greeted the packed crowd at the House of Blues with a plate of fresh donuts this past Tuesday night. The amazing band put on a 'Crazy' show featuring the tunes from their St. Elsewhere album.

Q:How was the show?

Chris Hemberger (with Jordan Silver)
Atlantic City, N.J.
A: I think Cee-Lo's way underrated. He's a mixture of soul, rock, hip-hop and pop. It's a great album. I don't think we were expecting such an amazing show.

Thor Fister
Long Branch, N.J.
A: I came to see [openers] Peeping Tom, because I'm a big Mike Patton fan, and they were awesome. But Gnarls Barkley won me over by the end of the show.