Saturday 1 July marks International Reggae Day and the beloved Cape Town reggae band, The Rivertones, celebrates the occasion by taking to The Drama Factory stage in Strand with A Special Tribute to Bob Marley, UB40 and Eddy Grant.
They are no strangers to performing, having been the support act for British reggae band UB40’s recent South African tour.
Reggae music, a treasured global cultural export from Jamaica, has played a unifying role among various cultural groups in Cape Town, The Rivertones being at the forefront. Owing to its popularity, reggae music has spread across the globe to many countries.
Founded in 2006 by lead vocalist Roland Nair, who made his stage debut at age 12, The Rivertones have also performed internationally with their upbeat, skanking, joyful, old-school reggae sound and their message of “one love”. In the ’80s the reggae scene was catching on in SA, and Nair was among the pioneer reggae/ska artists with bands such as Survival, Dread Warriors, Rapula and African Vibes in Johannesburg. He had the honour of performing with the legendary Bob Marley’s band, The Wailers, in Cape Town in 2009 and, after the success of his vocal performance, was invited to perform alongside Bunny Wailer during a Reunion Island tour. Nair has performed in 15 countries to capacity crowds of 75 000, with the likes of The Wailers.
Apart from being the support act on 30 May (Grand West, Cape Town) and 1 and 2 June 2023 (ICC, Durban), The Rivertones also performed at the UB40 after-party event at GrandWest when they first visited SA. Nair has also shared stages with PJ Powers, Hugh Masekela and Lucky Dube. After four decades of being on stage, locally Roland and The Rivertones are still a firm favourite across the country at major festivals, wine estates, restaurants, hotels, theatre and theatre supper venues, private, corporate and government functions. Roland has also performed for presidents.
For more info visit https://www.facebook.com/rivertonesreggae.
