Reggae Rise Up Vegas 2021: Day Two

Reggae Rise Up successfully made it to ‘The Entertainment Capital of the World’ with an impressive two-day festival featuring an incredible reggae rock lineup of much-loved reggae groups, like Dirty Heads, Fortunate Youth, J Boog, HIRIE, Matisyahu, Mike Love, Collie Buddz, Pacific Dub, The Irie and Native Leaves. Hosted at Vegas’ largest event centers, known for its epic events, just steps from thousands of casinos, hotels and the famous Fremont Street Experience, the festival included two stages and over 40 vendors of food, drinks, art and activities. 

Native Leaves, an alternative hip hop and reggae band from Salt Lake City, started Day Two on the Vibe Stage. Next, The Irie from Phoenix, Arizona opened up the Rise Up Stage, with their fresh, feel-good music to get the day going. Heading back to the Vibe Stage, we got to hear Pacific Dub belt out songs off their newest album, A Million Pieces, and they sure sounded great live! Collie Buddz then took on the Rise Up Stage, with his absolute banger hits, getting everyone in the crowd dancing and singing along. Next up, the incredibly talented Mike Love put on a one-man performance, showcasing his musical expertise by performing his beautiful music with just an acoustic guitar and an intricate pedal setup.

It was a performance you could not miss!

Matisyahu performed on the Rise Up Stage next, belting out hits, such as “Sunshine”, “King Without A Crown” and “One Day”. Back to the Vibe Stage, HIRIE gave a marvelous performance, with so much energy, her beautiful voice and her incredible dance skills. She connected beautifully with her audience, who watched in awe, singing and dancing along. J Boog smoothly serenaded us as the sun went down, with his unique island reggae music. Next up, Fortunate Youth took the Vibe Stage and gave us a lively performance, featuring new songs off their latest album Good Times (Roll On), packing the area with fans singing along. New and old hits were played, like “Peace, Love and Unity”, “Love Is The Most High” and “Sweet Sensi”. Last, but not least, Dirty Heads finished up the weekend with an enjoyable set and more awesome visualizations to back up their energetic performance, closing out an amazing reggae Vegas weekend!

Reggae Rise Up is the event to go to for any reggae music fan. The festival worked great in its new Vegas home, because it’s not confined to one area and you really feel like you’re in a real reggae scene. If you were not able to attend this year, be sure to make it a point to come back every other year! All you need is a little bit of sun, a lot of time and lots of dancing and grooving. See you in Vegas!

Photography by Olivia Valdes & Sean McCracken; recap by Olivia Valdes

Share this article

or