The Expanders with Iya Terra

On June 16th, The Expanders brought their vintage reggae sound to Ventura, CA for a night of mellow music at The Discovery with direct support from their good friends Iya Terra. Friendly faces filled the venue before the show started and some even took advantage of the bowling alley right along side of the stage. […]

California Roots 2016 wrap up

The annual California Roots Festival could easily be compared to the modern day Woodstock of reggae. Three days of peace and music. In fact, Jimi Hendrix infamously torched his guitar on the very stage thousands gather around year after year for this event. But it is still so much more than just that. This festival […]

Raging Fyah performs at The Observatory

Raging Fyah from Kingston, Jamaica was in San Diego, California on March 10th, performing with Fortunate Youth and Stick Figure. Raging Fyah joined these bands for Stick Figure’s Set In Stone Tour, happening now and spreading across the entire nation. The six-piece band provided the U.S. with some roots reggae music. They played most of […]

Rebelution and Protoje at the Majestic Ventura Theater

The second half of Rebelution’s annual Winter Greens tour stopped in Ventura for two nights with special guest Protoje and his band The Indiggnation. They played the historic Majestic Ventura Theater, right off of Main Street, and sold out the venue two nights in a row. We were able to catch them on Sunday night […]

The world of Katastro

Katastro is a band from Tempe, Arizona. As self-described, they play rock, blues, funk, and hip hop music. All of these genres seem to blend well enough for the reggae-rock scene to embrace them as family. In fact, they joined Pepper, once again, to open up a nice all-ages show at the House of Blues […]

Tribal Seeds at home with Stranger

On December 10th and 11th of 2015, Tribal Seeds played hometown shows for all their original, roots fans. Top Shelf Reggae (TSR) caught their first performance with bands, Iya Terra and Stranger, with the latter band also coming from South San Diego, California. In fact, San Diego was in for a special treat, if fans […]

Bay Area Vibez: Day one

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Catch A Fire Tour 2015 in San Diego

The Catch A Fire Tour featuring Tarrus Riley, Morgan Heritage, Stephen Marley, and Damian Marley stopped by the Cal Coast Open Air Theater in San Diego, California. One of the last few stops on their so-called “family tour”, the two Marley brothers definitely made it known that this tour took years to plan in order […]

Fortunate Youth & Arise Roots at the Belly Up

Two bands from Los Angeles, California came down to Solana Beach in San Diego to perform some beloved reggae music on Thursday, June 11th. Arise Roots and Fortunate Youth are known for their modern reggae music, which usually includes special messages. A great crowd showed up for both bands as Top Shelf Reggae indeed saw […]

Mother’s Day with Gonzo

On Mother’s Day night, Slic Entertainment of San Diego presented Gonzo backed by Beyond I Sight. Known as the “Sade of Reggae,” Gonzo brought his R&B sounding reggae to a very nice crowd. Top Shelf Reggae arrived just in time to catch Iya Terra, a reggae rock band from Los Angeles. Known as the “Sade […]

The reunion of Tomorrows Bad Seeds

According to a recent Top Shelf Reggae interview conducted with TBS frontman Moi Juarez, Tomorrows Bad Seeds never fully broke up – they were just on hiatus to pursue other projects. That being said, it has been well over two years since an official TBS show has occurred, making Bad Seed fans all over the […]

Latin night in Pacific Beach, San Diego

Bachaco from Miami, Florida ventured all the way to San Diego, California to bring their Latin reggae flair to 710 Beach Club in Pacific Beach. On Point Promotions was there to bring yet another great show, though this particular one included a modern, global sound. The way the band incorporated hot-steppa music, the skank, and […]

The Simpkin Project starting 2015 right!

On January 16, 2015 The Simpkin Project performed a home show in Orange County, California. They happened to be performing on the same night and location as the legendary Dead Kennedys punk band, who recently started performing again. The Simpkin Project played in the Constellation Room, which is located within The Observatory venue located in […]

Kottonmouth Kings Still Got It

It’s been awhile since this reviewer has been to an all-ages punk rock show which featured reggae as a direct influence to its punk roots and hip-hop acceptance. Gone are the days when this mix was considered fresh, new, and born of Southern California. Instead, this punk rock holiday show appeared to be a giant […]

Jah9 invades Sebastopol, California

One of the most exciting new artists coming out of Jamaica right now is a captivating young woman who goes by Jah9.  She was one of the most celebrated acts at Reggae on the River 2014; her songs are becoming more popular in the dancehalls in several countries and on Spotify playlists worldwide.  I was […]