Date: Thursday, January 21st, 2016 @ 8:00pm
Line Up: Tribal Seeds, The Skints, The Steppas, and special guest Koa Lopes (of Inna Vision)
Venue: The Showbox Market. Downtown, Seattle, Washington
Live: Tribal Seeds 2016 Winter Reggae Land Tour @ The Showbox. 1-21-16
The Pier got hooked up for Tribal Seeds‘ 2016 Winter Reggae Land Tour just in time before the tour ends, thanks to their Manager (Rams) and the rest of the Tribe. The Socal fellas from San Diego has made their way north throughout California and stopped in Seattle Thursday night, the 21st, during the Pacific Northwest leg. Despite touring completely in the West this time around, Tribal Seeds made this tour an overseas affair by inviting special guests The Skints from London and The Steppas from Hawaii.
Tribal Seeds originated in San Diego by brothers Steven Rene Jacobo (lyrics, lead vocals, guitar) and Tony-Ray Jacobo (producer, keyboards, vocals) in 2008. The band has grown to six members since then including Carlos Verdugo (drums), Victor Navarro (bass), E.N Young (keyboards, vocals), and Ryan Gonzo (guitar, vocals). The boys brought their A-game to the great PNW for an entertaining show at The Showbox. After opening up with a fan favorite, “The Garden” from the album The Harvest, the set was heavy on songs from their latest album, Representin’, including “In Your Eyes”, “Fill It Up”, “Blood Clot”, “In Your Area”, “Herb Stock”, “Moonlight”, “Undercover Lover”, and “Rock The Night”. But more fan favorites were mixed in from old albums.
Also from The Harvest, Tribal Seeds performed “Vampire” and closed out their set and the night with “Love Psalm.” The excitement built throughout the set with the great stage presence and theatrics that the Tribal Seeds are known for. E.N bounced around the stage with dreads flying, Steve was chill and steady throughout, Victor laid down the groovy bass beats, and Carlos beat away with his usual high-energy performance that’s enjoyable to watch every time. All the while the stage filled and emptied with clouds throughout the set from the smoke machines and probably a little something else.
The crowd was plenty pumped up and ready by the time Tribal Seeds took the stage thanks to their special guests performing with Tribal Seeds during the entire tour. Opening up the night was The Steppas from Hawaii bringing their unique blend of roots, rock, ska, and lovers reggae. The Steppas played songs from various albums including “Garden”, “Niceness”, and “Hits” from their debut self-titled EP (aka The Good Roots album); “Empress Love” and fan favorite “Lost At Sea” from the 2013 EP The Love Shack as well as their first full-length album To You From We with “No Matter What They Say” to close it up. The guys even brought a friend with them from the islands, Koa Lopes of Inna Vision, to perform “Reggae Lives” with the group. Koa is touring with The Steppas and Tribal Seeds partly to promote Inna Vision’s upcoming new album, titled Lifted, featuring Maad T-Ray of Tribal Seeds, New Kingston, Irie Love, and more. Even though The Steppas have completed full length tours across 22 states, they still have some trouble with the weather. When asked about what he thinks of the West Coast tour so far, Star Alaniz (vocals, guitar), had a quick 1-word response:
“COLD!”
– Star Alaniz, The Steppas (vocals, guitar)
But despite the cold, Star was found on stage wearing his sandals. The Skints, on the other hand, had the opposite response:
“We love the West Coast! … We are used to the wet weather, it doesn’t bother us.”
– Joshua Waters Rudge, The Skints (guitar, vocals)
The Skints came a very long way to join the Winter Reggae Land Tour, and Seattle and The Pier could not have been happier! Hailing from London, U.K., The Skints made their second trip to the U.S. to join Tribal Seeds and The Steppas. There is really only one word to describe the band’s performance: FUN! The very multi-talented band members took full advantage of their limited time in the U.S. with an unforgettable set. Marcia Richards (vocals, keys, and much more) took front-stage to serenade the Seattle audience with her soft, sweet voice while also playing keys, drum machine, flute, and melodica. Jaime Kyriakides (vocals, drums) kept the beat while singing lead and backup vocals on numerous songs, something I am still personally amazed with every time I see it. Meanwhile, Joshua Waters Rudge (guitar, vocals) danced around the stage with his guitar while Jonathan Doyle (bass) grooved out all night.
The Showbox Market is located in the middle of downtown just blocks away from the famous Pike’s Place Market. It was great to see the venue added a temporary barrier for The Pier and others with media access to get up close and personal with the bands in the photo pit without effecting the ample open floor space. The all-ages venue provides plenty of additional room in two raised bar areas with tables and standing room available without being blocked by the crowd on the open floor.
Even more important, The Showbox is VERY accessible with ramps into the venue and ADA reserved seating available at no additional cost. This makes The Showbox a personal favorite as it is one of the few venues in Seattle that I feel completely comfortable bringing my mother with me to shows. My mom LOVES reggae music, especially since I started working with The Pier, but she has trouble attending shows with me at many venues. Our experiences have varied across venues, but The Showbox is by far both of our favorites in terms of accessibility! The staff goes above and beyond with escorts for my mom to the reserved seating area with table service available. Even more surprising, or maybe not for those in the reggae community, concert attendees have always been very nice and helpful as well. Whether at the merch-booth, the bar, or trying to make her way to the bathroom, fans in the reggae community are always aware, kind, and more than helpful. I love the fact that I can go to a reggae show, especially as The Showbox, and feel completely comfortable setting my mom up at her seat and then getting busy going to work for the rest of the show, knowing full well that she’s going to enjoy the performance and be taken care of when I’m not available.
Tribal Seeds Set-List:
Garden
In Your Eyes
Fill It Up
Blood
In Your Area
Run
Herbstock
Moonlight
E.N / T-Ray / Gonzo
Vamp
Creator
Undercover
Ras
Is This Love
Dark
The Skints Set-List:
Mindless
Ratatat
This Town
Rubadub
Come To You KB
Friends and Business
Eyes
Forest
Tazer Beam
Culture Vulture
The Steppas Set-List:
Intro
Calling
Empress
Niceness
Garden
King/Reggae Lives featuring Koa Lopes of Inna Vision
(Lost)
Hits
Glory
No Matta
Related Links:
Tribal Seeds Website
Tribal Seeds Facebook
The Skints Website
The Skints Facebook
The Steppas Website
The Steppas Facebook
Article, Photos and Video By: Eric Schoep
Watch: The Skints – “This Town” (Live)