Reggae in the Desert at the Clark County Amphitheatre
Reggae in the Desert, Las Vegas’ largest Reggae festival showcasing both the unifying power of Reggae music and the Caribbean lifestyle, announces the 13th annual music festival on Saturday, June 14 at the Clark County Amphitheatre (500 S. Grand Central Parkway, Las Vegas). Reggae in the Desert, an all-ages music festival, features Barrington Levy, Collie Buddz, Tarrus Riley, Morgan Heritage, Don Carlos, Fortunate Youth, Las Vegas’ own Barry Black and the Senzuals and more.
Doors open at noon and Reggae in the Desert concludes at 11 p.m. General admission tickets are $25 in advance and $30 day of show and are on sale now. VIP tickets are $100 and include an event t-shirt, event poster, meet-and-greet with select artists and an air conditioned VIP Lounge with free wine tasting and complimentary appetizers (while supplies last). Only cash is accepted at the door for tickets on the day of the show. Children ages five (5) or younger are free. All seats are general admission and available on a first-come, first served basis. No re-entry is permitted. To purchase tickets, visit www.ticketfly.com. For a complete list of performance times and additional information, visit the event website at www.reggaeinthedesert.com.
Blankets for lawn seating are permitted, as well as one unopened/factory sealed bottle of water per person, still cameras (no video) and sunscreen. Vendors in the Caribbean Islands Vendor Village will have a wide assortment Caribbean-style food including jerk chicken, peas & rice and fried plantains. In addition to water and non-alcoholic refreshments, domestic and imported beers will be available. Various exhibits and Caribbean-inspired vendors will also be at Reggae in the Desert. ATMs are available.
Barrington Levy is one of the biggest stars to come out of Jamaica. Beginning his career with The Mighty Multitude in 1977, he quickly transitioned to being a popular dancehall performer by the age for 14. By 16, he was recording with the Roots Radics and recorded several duets with Toyan, Jah Thomas and Trinity. Levy released four albums before 1980 including “Shaolin Temple,” “Bounty Hunter,” “Shine Eye Gal” (United Kingdom) and the critically-acclaimed “Englishman.” By the time his 1980 album “Robin Hood” was released, Levy was one of the biggest Jamaican stars, and saw his international fame growing as well, especially in the United Kingdom. Taking a break from albums in the early eighties, Levy then released a series of hit singles and toured the UK in 1984, where he enjoyed a big hit on the reggae charts with “Under Mi Sensi,” followed by the crossover hit “Here I Come,” which reached number 41 on the UK Singles Chart in 1985. He returned to LPs with “Lifestyle” and “Money Move.” Levy received the Best Vocalist prize at the British Reggae Awards in 1984. The late 1980s saw Levy, now in his twenties, slow down his recorded output, though he continued to perform and record regularly, and played at Sunsplash every year from 1987 to 1995. In the 1990s, Levy continued to release periodic hits in Jamaica, and more rarely in the UK, although his vocals were sampled and used in many underground and released jungle tunes. In 1998, he released “Living Dangerously,” which included a collaboration with one of Jamaica’s most prolific deejays Bounty Killer and with Snoop Dogg. The release was one of Levy’s most successful since the start of the 1990s, and saw him finally achieve some success in the U.S. In 2004, he contributed to a track on the album White People by Handsome Boy Modeling School, a project by Prince Paul and Dan the Automator. He also collaborated with Slightly Stoopid on their 2005 album “Closer To The Sun.” In 2007 Levy made a guest appearance on the single “No Fuss” by Red-1 of the Rascalz. In September 2013 he released the single “Love the Way She Love,” a collaboration with Mr. Vegas, and announced an acoustic album featuring new songs and re-workings of old songs such as “Prison Oval Rock” and “Black Roses.”
Reggae in the Desert is presented by Frederic Apcar Productions. Sponsors include Miller Lite, Sailor Jerry, Las Vegas Review Journal and “Neon,” CW Las Vegas, myLVTV. The VIP Lounge is sponsored by Bin 702.
