Mic Inity headlines reggae festival

the best reggae bands on the local scene.
The reggae fiesta starts at 3pm.
Topping the bill are musicians Mic Inity and Hotta Fyah, Transit Crew, Mathias Julius and X-Vybz, House of Stone, Thanda Richardson and Junior Banton among others.
The featured artistes have all graced the Book Café and Mannenberg stages in 2011, with Mic Inity and Hotta Fyah, Transit Crew and House of Stone generally considered to be the three best reggae bands in town.
The “Reggae Festival” will see all these great acts come together for one massive party.
Mic Inity’s “Weddy Wednesday” midweek reggae show at Mannenberg has become popular with patrons. It has been said that the singer has single-handedly transformed Harare’s midweek parties as Mic Inity is one of the finest stage performers in Zimbabwe.
Transit Crew – arguably one the longest running reggae bands in the country – has been around for more than 20 years and began their careers at the Book Café on Saturday night slots.
Their “Ultimate Reggae Party” then moved to Mannenberg where it is has become a regular and cultured feature.
Mathias Julius has been a regular at the Mannenberg on Fridays alongside Chikwata.263 and Mokoomba as the reggae group of the “Afro.Rock.Reggae” nights.
Julius’s conscious reggae lyrics have earned him fans countrywide and his latest single “Don’t Look Back” was launched at Mannenberg last Friday.
House of Stone is an instrumental dub reggae band with a selection of guest vocalists who play with them from time to time including Jnr Banton, Memory, MC Cheetah, Upmost, Ba Shupi, Mischief and Sekuru Tose.
The “Up In Fire” dub sessions on Sundays at Mannenberg are backed by the versatile group, and have been steadily gaining popularity since they started four months ago.
Thanda Richardson has been part of many spontaneous collaborations in Harare this year, between touring to other parts of Southern Africa and Europe.
In December, Lady Thanda as she is known in reggae circles, was featured weekly at Book Café under the “FLAME” programme for female artistes, following in the footsteps of performers like Chiwoniso, Hope Masike and Edith weUtonga.
Reggae music has always been hugely popular in Zimbabwe – etched into the country’s character by the late great reggae icon Bob Marley, who performed a song about the country during the Independence celebrations in 1980.