I caught last year's tour at the outdoor Wolftrap venue in northern Virginia. The show was excellent -- featured were Buju Banton, Shaggy, Beres Hammond, Steel Pulse, and several others. For only $17 (lawn) it was quite a good value.
This year's tour kicked off in California at the beginning of August. Maxi Priest, Ras Shiloh, Joseph Hill (from Culture), Steel Pulse, and Third World joined together and performed a Bob Marley medley on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. The lineup will include all the aforementioned artists (I can't wait to see Ras Shiloh live) as well as Red Fox and Monifah. Shaggy, Diana King, and one or two others were originally scheduled but will no longer be appearing.
This is only the second annual Spirit of Unity Tour. Considering how many of the more popular summer reggae festivals have kind of fallen from popularity as of late (Sumfest and Sunsplash, namely), it's good to see another promotion bringing together some great artists for a solid travelling show. You can see a list of current tour dates at http://www.tevaspiritofunitytour.com/Sou... and be sure to take a look at their comprehensive site from the top level, too (http://www.tevaspiritofunitytour.com/).
A couple of other more localized reggae festivals you may want to check out if you have the chance include 16th Annual Reggae on the River in Piercy, CA from August 6-8 (performers include Third World, Maxi Priest, Shaggy, Culture, Rayvon, Ziggy Marley, and the Abyssinians). See http://www.reggaeontheriver.com/ for more info. The third annual Reggae on the Rocks will be in Morrison, CO on August 21-22 (performers include the Long Beach Dub All Stars featuring Half Pint, Black Eyed Peas, Luciano, Michael Rose, Andrew Tosh, and John Brown's Body). What Are Records put out a CD of the show each year that is quite good. Visit http://www.war.com/ror/ for more info.
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