Dateline: 18/03/03 Venue: L'Havana.Toulouse.

We arrived at the venue after spending the day trodding around Toulouse at 16:00.

Steflion, Marie and Oliver had already set up the sound equipment and were just going through the wiring up phase.We duly chipped in, moving the stacks and connecting up.

We were then ready for the sound check and Steflion started to run a few tunes just so we could tweak the set for the best sound.
It was then that one of the club's employees started to connect up some unusual equipment. I went over to see what he was doing and was shocked to see it was a noise meter. But not just any old noise meter.
This meter if triggered would cut the electricity to the sound. Marie, Sam myself tried to get him to position it so it picked the ambient sound, but he was adamant it had to go in front of the stack.
At the first deep bass note or shrill tops and this thing was tripping.
After much debate between all parties it was moved to a more suitable place but all through Steflion's set we had to keep is eye on it, just in case the level he was playing was too high.
I tell on some occassions Stef was seriously rocking the red on the meter. But he never tripped it.

When it came to our set we had to do the same. Aba played and I monitored the meter.

Raspects to Steflion, Marie, Oliver, Irie Son, Jared, Jean Albert, Laetitia, Sam, and to all.We will be back.

The promoter Laetitia was there at the station to meet us when we arrived and went out of her way to make us feel welcomed.
She had arranged an interview on a radio station called 'Radio Campus' with it's host Irie Son.
We went to the radio station after dumping our stuff off at the hotel and Aba did a 40 minute slot just playing music.

We enjoyed our day off in Toulouse and the promoter and her people made it nice.

I was woken up by Steflion at 08:30 explaining that we had a problem.
He was going back to Canne to pick up the sound equipment and meet us in 3 days time in Toulouse.
The tickets we had for the train was for Tuesday morning. This he explained was the problem.
The French Trains were going on strike from Monday night and there would be no trains on Tuesday at all. So either we followed him back to Canne and travel up with the truck on Tuesday or could we leave a day earlier for Toulouse. Well the time it takes to travel by train from Bordeaux to Tolouse is 2 hours.
The time by train to Canne is 8 and a half hours and then we would have a minimum of a 10 hour journey by car to Toulouse.

Also the promoter was on her way back from London, England by car and might not be able to be there when we arrived. I told Stef that we have friends in Toulouse and we could arrange to stay with them if the worst happened.
We elected to stay in Bordeaux the Sunday night and travel to Toulouse on the Monday, on the first available train.
This we duly did.

The trails and tribulations trying to get from Marseille to Bordeaux.
We were booked on the 12:05 train and the promoter and Steflion came to the hotel to take us to the station at 11:00. The station we were informed was only 5 minutes away. So we chatted and killed time in the carpark of the hotel. Come 11:40 we set off for the station. When we arrived at the station the ticket inspector would not let us on the train as our tickets were from Marseille not Aix En Provence, even though the train has to pass Aix En Provence to get to Bordeaux.
What happened next was like the car chase from the Steve McQueen's Film 'Bullit'.

The time now was 11:50. We had 15 minutes to drive 18 Km to get to Marseille. It became obvious as we raced along that we were not going to catch the train; for all the rally skills of the driver. So we decided to slow down and at least get to Marseille safely and try to change the tickets so we could catch a later train.We arrived at the station at 12:15 and Steflion and the promoter went to explain the situation at the ticket desk. They were sympathic to our plight and exchanged the tickets for the 15:15 train.

We now had 2 hours to kill before the train so we decided we might as well get something to eat. So we went to a restaurant near the marina to eat.
As we were having our meal Aba looked out of the window and saw that the police were putting barricades up to stop the traffic from going back into town. I asked the Julien the promoter what was going on and his answer made my blood chill.

"Oh it is the Marseille Carnival today" he said with no concern in his voice what so ever.
The time now was 14:20.

We left the restaurant and made our way back to the cars and headed for the train station.
The time was now 14:35.
Due to the carnival we were forced right around the outskirts of Marseille and we could not get anywhere near the station as it was on the route for the carnival bands.

It took us one an a half hours to get to the station by car, which from the marina is only a 5 minute walk.
Needless to say we missed our train again.

We arrived on the platform where the next train was leaving in 10 minutes, without changing our tickets.
Steflion explained to the inspectors and they let us on the train.

We arrived in Bordeaux at 22:35 after a 6 hour train ride.
We only had time to dump our bags in the hotel and then headed for the venue.

We were up and playing by 23:20 which was no mean feat considering the day we just had.
We did the gig and went back to the hotel to crash. The time 05:30.

Raspects to The Dub Corner Crew, Sister Marie and unborn child, Yve, and to all the patrons in the place. The whole thing was an experience......The Humble Lion

Alongside 'Lion Roots Sound System', Aba tore up the place.
The club had to lock the doors to new patrons because the capacity had already been reached and the time was only 22.30. Very appreciative crowd. One patron Samuel Tan waited for over 2 hours to get in so he could buy 'The Wrath Of Jah' Lp and take in the vibe.

Come 0430 in the morning and the crowd just kept asking for just "One more". It became like a mantra. Every time Aba said "this is the last one" they started up the chant. Aba kept playing "Just one more" till gone 0500.

Big Raspects going out to all at 'The Tribute Club', Red Fred, Julien, Steflion, Marie and to all who made it such a nice experience.They made us feel very welcome.

I know it was not advertised because it was a 'Clare's College Student Ent' gig and was only for students of the university.No non-students allowed on campus.

But boy I wish you could have been there!

The Shanti-Ites live band in full session with support from a local Roots Dj called Fatman.

Why he was called Fatman must have been a play on words, for he was a thin as a reed and taller than me, and I am 6' 2".

The Shanti-Ites with Blood Shanti on drums and lead vocals tore the place down.

The set was so wicked they had to play 3 encores because the crowd would not let them finish. It even caused the second half of Fatman's set to be cancelled as they were called on to "Just do one more".

The set which should have lasted 1hr 10 mins went on for 1hr 40 mins.

I don't think that Fatman was too concerned as he was right up there calling for more along with the rest of the patrons.

The smile on Rocks face as he rolled them bass lines from his bass was a sight to savour. You could not get a Rizla paper between the band, they were so tight.The Josuha Horns were cutting through with a sweetness and a sizzle. Go there Colin and Digi!

Samari was dropping some serious percussion especially on the Djembe, and Horace and Prince were hitting the parts that other keyboard player cannot reach.

This was all rounded off by the one Blood Shanti singing out of his skin as well as peppering the air with some serious drums.
They all looked like they were enjoying themselves on stage and that conveyed to the patrons who were enhancing the vibe.

The promoter Yuli and her friends were skanking like veterans.
Some of the moves that the females at the front of the stage were putting down as they lost themselves in the music were down right erotic, not to say bordering on the pornographic.
Clare's lap dancing fraternatity maybe?

I know that you are thinking that "He would think that, he's biassed".

Trust me people I am a straight talking man and 'if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it ain't no swan'.

Please check out the live band if we are playing in your area and feel the vibes for yourselves.

One Love to the promoter Yuli and all the patrons at the gig.........Blood Shanti & The Shanti-Ites.

Snow had been heavy the couple of days before we played this gig and what with people sleeping in their cars because they could get home and those that could taking 7 hours plus to drive 15 miles, shows how bad the conditions were.
So we were a bit worried about the weather, but as Jah will provide, the sun shone brightly all day friday and the snow disappeared. So we were able to make the gig and a wicked night was had by all.
Tony the promoter was happy, we were happy, and the patrons were happy. What more could you ask for.
Raspect to the travelling crews: Sister Millie & Cru, Terry Gad, Leroy, Babar, De Yout Dem, Napthali, Mystical Warrior, Crucial, Tony, Liz, and to all the Southend massive........One Love.

We are playing some dates in France in March in conjunction with 'LionRoots Records';the full details can be seen on the 'Events Page' but we have never confirmed any dates for Paris or Poitiers with any other promoter.
So people do not be misled.

The return of Aba to Southend was a success. The promoter was happy, the patrons were very happy and we were happy.
The place rocked and an abundance of smiling faces in the place.
It was nice to see friends and faces that we had not seen in a while.
Raspects goes out to Tony, Alan, Mystical Warrior, Aba's daughter and friends, Julian, Javeeda, Marcus, Babar, Steve, Colin, Natalie, Sister Millie, Leroy, Paul and to all in de place......One Love.

The dance was cancelled by the Health & Safety officials due to the lack of water in the building and the fireman's strike.
We did not know this until 22:00 of the night and by that time all sets were in the place and ready to play, and I seriously wanted to hear what King Shiloh was going to come with; for Bredda Neil has a nice set and a wicked selection of tunes not normally heard this side of the waters.

Seems like water has conspired against King Shiloh.

The last time he was due to play water trapped in a light fitting directly over his set poured down and drenched his amps causing serious electrical problem and this time the lack of water prevented him from playing.

Apologises to all who had travelled to the dance on behalf of all the sounds present and the promoter Raymond Judah.

Macka B played a nice little set and the less said about Lee Perry the better. Bwoy de man deh pon a different vibe dread, me ah tell you.But the crowd did love him.

The only problem we had was the front of house sound.The man on the FOH mixer had turned the volume right down when it came time for us to play. I had to clamber over the speakers at the front of the stage to go and have a little word with him. He looked terrified as I jumped over the barrier and started adjusting the sound on the mixing board and he just let me get on with it; only asking one question,"What is your name?" This was so he could tell the officials that he didn't turn up the volume, I did!
With the volume restored to a reasonable volume I went back to join Sweet T on the stage to continue the set.

Raspects going out to the promoters, Nico, Easy Dub, Fagan, Gal (Blood Shanti says Hi), Simeon, and to all that made our trip a success. One Love............The Humble Lion

One Love The Humble Lion

Page VI /Homepage

ALL IMAGES AND TEXT COPYRIGHT © Falasha recordings