French reggae singer relays peace message
French reggae singer relays peace message
M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
As it is indisputable that many French people have long resented
American cultural imperialism, it was hardly surprising that an
artist they wanted to perform during the French Festival here is
someone who plays reggae, a genre that champions human
emancipation and above all, did not originate on American soil.
French reggae singer Sergent Garcia accomplished that very
mission during a joyful concert staged by the French Cultural
Center (CCF) on Thursday last week.
Garcia showed that a musical concert was not merely
entertainment; he transformed the medium to transmit the message
of love, camaraderie, peace and even revolution -- all ideals
that have long been promoted by reggae purveyors, Bob Marley
among them.
Playing in a reggae style he termed salsamuffin -- a mix of
salsa, rumba, ragga, ska and Cuban-jazz -- Garcia gave a night to
remember for concertgoers, even for those who were not well
acquainted with the Jamaican-born musical genre.
The concert was also another testament that music knows no
barriers, including language. Concertgoers ecstatically danced to
the songs, regardless of their French and Spanish lyrics.
Garcia, who looked appeared joyful during the concert, gave
instructions in English to the audience on how to up the ante.
And if Terima Kasih Jakarta was considered proper Indonesian, the
concert might have broken a new record as a single musical
performance delivered in four languages.
"This song goes to people in Latin America, who fight for
their rights," Gracia said, before delivering a spirited
rendition of Que Palique, a standard reggae tune with a signature
one-note guitar strummed accompaniment.
Que Palique was the first politically charged song performed
before antiwar chants Stop Da War and Revolution, which contains
a sampler from the Clash's Revolution Rock.
Technically, the concert had little to offer. Garcia's singing
-- or rapping to be exact -- was backed by a sequencer and a live
drum playing by Ivan Darroman Montoya, an energetic drummer who
single-handedly executed the rhythm section.
But the music spoke for itself.
A bond between the performers and the audience transpired when
Garcia and his three backup singers invited a handful of
concertgoers -- including two photographers who later freely took
pictures of them -- to climb on stage and dance to their songs.
Later, Garcia started a human chain that he led inside Balai
Sarbini concert hall at The Plaza Semanggi, encircling those
concertgoers who opted to stay in their seats.
After such a rapturous show, concertgoers refused to go home
even after the music was over.
Garcia and his crew returned to the stage to deliver an encore
that was almost equivalent to staging another show.
A Parisian of Spanish descent, Garcia is a household name in
France and the Spanish-speaking world after releasing four
albums, Viva El Sargento in 1997, Un Poquito Quema'O (1999), Sin
Fronteras (2001) and La Semilla Escondida (2004).
Garcia was a member of punk band Ludwig Von 88 before he
embraced reggae. He said that punk was a manifestation of
"juvenile delinquency".
"It was just part of growing up," he said before the concert.