California Roots Festival @ Monterey Fairgrounds

[Drunk Monk]

My subconscious reminded me that this would’ve been Cali Roots weekend. I had a long and complex Cali adopts dream that had me revisiting missing friends, getting asked for a letter of recommendation from a stranger, and wearing a blue tie dye sarong like a toga because my pj shorts were inside out. There was a lot more but it was too long and convoluted to recount. 

I’ll don my Cali Roots hat and socks today in memory. Maybe next year...

[Drunk Monk]

This is closer to home than BottleRock. This is where I'll be, assuming we're not on the Omega variant by then.

[Greg]

I saw the BottleRock line-up on Facebook plus a request from RockMed for volunteers.

[Drunk Monk]

Bums me out that these two fests compete. 

But my loyalty lies in MoBay, not Napa.

[Greg]

Well, the commute is better.

[Drunk Monk]

FESTIVALS MUSIC

One of California’s biggest music festivals returns with an uncertain COVID policy

Aidin Vaziri February 24, 2022Updated: February 26, 2022, 11:02 am

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Sublime with Rome will perform at the Cali Roots 2022 festival.Photo: Kevin N. Hume / The Chronicle
Following a two-year pandemic hiatus, the California Roots Music and Art Festival plans to return this spring with a lineup including Sean Paul, Ice Cube, and Sublime with Rome. 
But just like Coachella in Southern California, the organizers of Northern California’s largest reggae music festival say there will be no coronavirus restrictions in place when the four-day concert takes place at the Monterey County Fair and Event Center from May 26 to 29. 
And Cali Roots’ producers are taking an unusually candid stance with its COVID-19 policy, or lack thereof.
“To be honest, we can’t definitively say at this point. Currently, we have no restrictions,” according to the festival website. “We will follow all state and county guidelines. Once we are closer to the event we will confirm our policies, and all attendees will be sent an update via email.”
Many promoters face a similar dilemma due to the fluid nature of the pandemic and government policies that appear to be shifting weekly. Organizers of Sacramento’s Aftershock Festival said this week they will not honor refund requests for any restrictions — such as vaccination and masking requirements — that may be imposed by the time the concert dates arrive on Oct. 6 to 9.
Rapper Ice Cube is scheduled to perform at the Cali Roots 2022 festival.Photo: Marcio Jose Sanchez / Associated Press
California’s health department lifted a universal mask mandate for vaccinated individuals on Feb. 16. It also rolled back other COVID safety measures, including a requirement to show proof of vaccination for large outdoor events, despite the rate of coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths caused by the virus remaining high following the omicron winter surge.
Even though Goldenvoice, which produces Coachella and the country music festival Stagecoach in Riverside County, updated its health and safety protocols to say there will be no COVID safety measures at this year’s concerts in April, it added that the requirements “may change at any time.”
Aftershock, Coachella and Stagecoach websites include disclaimers that say there is “an inherent risk” of exposure to COVID-19 where people gather in large groups and those attending their events agree to take that risk. That may mark a trend going forward for many music festivals as state leaders move toward an endemic policy of “living with the virus” rather than continuing to treat it as a public health crisis. 
While Cali Roots ticket holders wait to find out whether they will need those vax cards, festival organizers announced Tuesday, Feb. 22, that they have added three new artists to the bill: Stick Figure, Beenie Man and Tunnel Vision. They join Cali Roots veterans including Rebelution, Atmosphere, Chronixx and Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley.
The festival expects to operate at capacity, with about 13,000 people attending each day.
“I can’t believe it’s been almost three years since the Cali Roots family has come together,” said Dan Sheehan, co-producer of Cali Roots, in a statement. “What makes the event so special is the spirit, camaraderie and fans that unite behind the music and culture. The energy and vibes will be amplified tenfold for this year’s event.”
Single-day tickets and multiday festival passes, priced from $106.26 to $322.63, are available now at the Cali Roots website, www.californiarootsfestival.com.

Cali Roots 2022 lineup
May 26: Dirty Heads, Stephen Marley, Protoje featuring Lila Ike and Sevana, Fortunate Youth, Alborosie Demarco, DENM, Turbulence, Tropidelic, Eli Mac, Tunnel Vision.
 
May 27: Rebelution, Atmosphere, Chronixx, Pepper, J Boog, the Movement, Brother Ali, Tarrus Riley, Satsang, Nattli Rize, Sa-Roc, EarthKry, Arise Roots, Natural Vibrations, Kash’d Out. 
 
May 28: Slightly Stoopid, Stick Figure, Beenie Man, Tribal Seeds, Trevor Hall, the Green, Collie Buddz, the Expendables, Dub Inc, Bumpin Uglies, the Elovaters, FIA, Sensi Trails.
 
May 29: Damian Marley, Ice Cube, Sean Paul, Sublime With Rome, Common Kings, Durand Jones and the Indications, Anthony B, Hirie, Iya Terra, Mike Love, Keznamdi Through the Roots, Artikal Sound System, Vana Liya.

Aidin Vaziri
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Aidin Vaziri is The San Francisco Chronicle’s pop music critic. Email: avaziri@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @MusicSF

Not one of Cali’s biggest, not by a long shot. OSL, BottleRock, Coachella are all much bigger. Cali Roots isn’t even a quarter of their size. 

JAH Med is already making plans because they like to work way ahead that way they can do it all over when it’s actually time to plan. They’ve already asked for our vol lists and they haven’t even signed the contract. Bother…

May is looking fat already. It starts with Lorde & McCartney and ends with this. Hoping it all comes together.

[Drunk Monk]

Printing out lammies - my run will be over a hundred. Damn, that's a lot of lams. 

CR's covid policy sux, especially given the surge. Superspreader potential is extreme. At least it's outdoors and hopefully I can stay away from people. Kinda want a T-shirt that says 'don't hug me you sick bastard'. I was never much of a hugger. Feckin dirty Rastas. Well, dirty people in general. Heck Dirty Heads is even playing. 

I really need the escape tho. Been so long since I got a good dose of reggae. 

---

I just reread this thread. Such memories. So many adventures. A lot of getting sick. That must be avoided this year...avoided like...well, the plague.

[Greg]

Saw a rasta in the park. Almost took a photo for you

[Drunk Monk]

No need. I see so many Rastas. I live in Rasta Cruz, remember?

I must say that I'm enjoying the Cali Roots YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/c/CaliforniaRoots - good background music when I'm working, and it's getting me back into the groove. 

Just heard Albarosie cancelled. Bummer. I would've made the effort to see his set.

[Greg]

But this was one out in the wild!

[Drunk Monk]

Sublime doesn't count since the main guy is dead.

My friend Cindi, founder of Merge4 socks, does the official Cali Roots socks as well as some of the artists. She’s doing Sublime this year. I won’t get a pair of those - while I respect Sublime like you say, the lead is dead…

[Drunk Monk]

Tonight is the last night I sleep in my own bed for a while. Tomorrow night I have a ton of things to attend to in svale. Wednesday night we insert at CR. 

I’m almost packed. Just some final loose ends need to be sorted. This is where I often err, but it’s not like we’re that far from civilization. There’s a drug store in walking distance.

I’m eager yet have my trepidations. I think I’ll be better by 1pm on Thursday when things are settled. The looming Covid threat gives me much pause.

[Drunk Monk]

Lost 3 of our vols already. 

One who I call 'Skipper' is travelling to sail the Adriatic from Croatia to Italy. He's leaving next month. He thought he'd have enough time to prepare but he doesn't. 

Two others are covid positive. 

We started with 15. Now we have a dozen...


Everything is fine.

[Drunk Monk]

Cali Roots is Back and Bigger Than Ever

One of the largest reggae-rock festivals in the world has deep Santa Cruz roots

ByJuan Reyes

May 24, 2022

Rebelution drummer and Central Coast native Wesley Finley feels like he’s “home” every time the band performs Cali Roots. PHOTO: C3 Management

Following a two-year pause, Cali Roots is still one of the largest and most popular reggae-rock festivals. And the 11th annual gathering’s lineup is full of big-time acts, ready to perform for the 50,000 plus expected to flood the Monterey County Fairgrounds from May 26-29.

[b]See the full schedule and lineup.[/b]
Cali Roots veterans [b]Damian “Junior Gong” Marley[/b] (9:30pm, Sunday, May 29; The Bowl) and [b]Atmosphere [/b](6:05pm,[b] [/b]Friday, May 27; The Bowl) join festival newcomers [b]Ice Cube[/b] (7:10pm, Sunday, May 29; The Bowl) and [b]Hirie [/b](6pm, Sunday, May 29; The Cali Roots Stage). 2022 marks the event’s expansion from three days to four, kicking off Thursday with a full roster, punctuated by [b]Stephen Marley[/b] (8:45pm, Thursday, May 26; The Cali Roots Stage) and[b] Dirty Heads[/b] (9:50pm, Thursday, May 26; The Bowl).
Meanwhile, Santa Cruz’s [b]The Expendables[/b], another Cali Roots mainstay, play The Bowl on Friday at 3:20pm. The Soquel High buddies Geoff Weers (vocals and guitar), Raul Bianchi (lead guitar) and Adam Patterson (drums) formed The Expendables in 1997—bassist Ryan DeMars joined three years later. DeMars, an Aptos High grad, is thrilled to return to the Fairgrounds—the band played Cali Roots in 2019, before the two-year gap.
“Cali Roots was the first festival of our genre, and a couple of more festivals have popped up,” DeMars says. “You tour with these bands; you become really good friends, then you don’t see each other because you’re working with other bands. And then you come back to all these festivals; it’s like you never left playing with each other.”
The Expendables have come a long way. DeMars recalls the early days, opening for [b]Eek-a-Mouse[/b] at the Catalyst and selling their demo In the Weeds at a table hidden in a dark corner next to the bar. Now, the quartet is a headlining act performing at a world-renowned festival. 
The Santa Cruz-Cali Roots connection runs deeper. 
Jeff Monser, the guy behind the entire event, hails from Santa Cruz. He went from slinging T-shirts at festivals around the country to creating Monterey’s most successful music festival ever. 
Monser started with a $4,000 sponsorship from Kona Brewing Co. and a product sponsorship from Monster Energy, but it wasn’t quite enough. The artist/screen-printing shop owner had to put up most of the cash he made from his business and worked a second full-time job, screen-printing for Specialized Bicycles.
In 2010, Cali Roots debuted at the Monterey County Fairgrounds on the small Garden Stage. The afternoon event featured eight bands, with [b]Dirty Heads[/b] headlining ([b]Tribal Seeds, Thrive[/b] and [b]The Holdup[/b] were also on the bill). About a thousand people attended. 
In 2011, Cali Roots expanded to two days and drew 5,000 on both days—Monser had no previous experience producing music events before Cali Roots but knew he had struck gold.

In 2019, Ben Harper headlined the first night of Cali Roots’ 10-year anniversary. PHOTO: ProPix Medi 

By its third year, Monser was out of his league. He had to bring someone on who knew what they were doing. [b]Dan Sheehan[/b]—now, the festival producer and co-owner—came on and transformed the event into an internationally lauded gathering. The happening has hosted [b]Slightly Stoopid, Matisyahu[/b], [b]311,[/b] [b]Don Carlos,[/b] [b]Nas, Thievery Corporation, The Roots, Cypress Hill [/b]and [b]Rebelution[/b]—it’s become a bastion of Memorial Day weekend; sold-out, smoked-out musical bliss.
[b]Rebelution[/b] drummer Wesley Finley is a product of North Monterey County High School’s music department. He met bandmates Eric Rachmany (vocals/guitar), Rory Carey (keyboards) and Marley D. Williams (bass) at UC Santa Barbara. Finley says performing in a venue that he considers his home turf is incredible.
“It feels kind of surreal and serendipitous, too, in a way, just because I’m from here and I actually live just a couple of miles from the Fairgrounds,” he says. “I can hear music [from my house] sometimes. It takes place right here. It’s one of the biggest reggae festivals, it’s my hometown, and it’s also my birthday weekend—it’s this crazy culmination of circumstances that I get to be a part of, and it’s special to me.”
[b]Night Market 831,[/b] inspired by global open-air street bazaars, is an inclusive, collaborative space for festivalgoers to experience a rotating roster of local performers, artists and artisans. No matter how big Cali Roots goes, it continues to embrace the local talent. Salinas reggae outfit [b]The Rudians[/b] make their festival debut on Thursday, May 26 at 2:45pm on the Pop-Up Stage.
California Roots Music and Arts Festival happens Thursday, May 26 -Sunday, May 29. Monterey County Fairgrounds, 2004 Fairgrounds Road, Monterey. $141.35/Thursday single-day pass; $176.44/Friday, Saturday and Sunday single-day pass. californiarootsfestival.com.

[Greg]

I just hope they don't do too many solos.