Sauveterre de Rouergue is a historic village situated 25 miles from Rodez in the Aveyron department, in the Midi-Pyrennees region of France. Founded in the 13th Century, it was a 'Bastide', a town created by the powers that were to offer security and good economic conditions to artisans and other commerces, fortified and built around a central square. (The English captured and held it for a dozen years during the Hundred years War.) It is situated on the Segala plateau which is dissected by many deep river valleys. The land of volcanic rocks were not good for agriculture, rye being the main crop and bread was often made of chestnuts. But it was a successful town on the whole with a population of nearly 2000 in the mid nineteenth century which, with the advent of the railways, saw improvement of agricultural land by the use of imported fertilisers. And the area is now reputed for its production of beef and particularly veal. However, the population has slowly fallen and is now below 800.
So, how come it is home to two annual music festivals (three this year to celebrate an anniversary)? This is entirely down to the AJAL, an association of young people wanting to help to keep their town/village on the map. And, by attracting lots of volunteers, 110 this festival including me, have been able to keep costs down, ticket prices competitive and build up the sort of reputation you need in order to attract good artists. This year was the 13th consecutive Roots'Ergue festival, mainly consisting of artists from the reggae and sound system scene. And this year there were 2400 festival attendees, many of them bused in from Rodez and Albi, the two nearest decent-sized towns.
The age range of these festival-goers is from adolescents to pensioners with people in their 20's and 30's being the majority. And this charming and historical village becomes like one big squat, every available bit of space, outside of the central old town, covered with parked vans, tents and cars with the fairly middle class population outnumbered by dread-locked groups of young people. The security is three people at the gate to the actual site which is the modern village hall and the land outside it. And the police have the good sense to stay away except for setting up a couple of stopping points on the roads outside the town where they give alcohol and drug tests to people leaving after the first night in particular.
The main stage is in the hall with state-of-the-art PA, fold-back and lighting desks. Outside is set up the sound system. There are bars inside and outside and cold and hot food. Now, of course, normally smoking is forbidden indoors and there are plenty of signs. However, reggae music is based on the Jamaican culture where the smoking of cannabis is totally normal. And the smell of grass, with its pungent odour, is everywhere. On the other hand, there is absolutely no crowd trouble. Everyone is in happy mode, just there to totally enjoy the music, and there was a lot to enjoy!!
What interested me the most this year was that there were to be two backing bands, each backing two top singers. On Friday it was a group of mainly older men who had played on the reggae scene for many years, having played with artists such as U Roy, The Skatalites, Bunny Wailer and many more.
After an opening set by local duo, Satya, this star band played with first Takana Zion and then Harrison Stafford of Groundation fame. Both of these were wonderful sets which got the crowd going, wholehearted reggae!!
But then the audience seemed to grow with a lot more younger people pushing to the front in order to watch Babylon Circus, a tight and ultra professional outfit that were more latin than reggae. And the crowd went wild and danced and clapped with enthusiasm. For me, they were a bit contrived and a bit too poppy but I had to admit they did their thing very well.
On Saturday, having driven down to Toulouse Airport to pick up Omar Perry, and then meet friends for a few drinks and food, I missed the opening act. Now, I must say that I have picked up quite a few artists from Toulouse Airport and several of them have remarked on the distance to Sauveterre. It is a good hour and a half drive, nearly one hundred miles, nearly all motorway. But it is the nearest airport with flights coming in from all over.
The first act I got to see was the guy from Massilla Sound System, Papet J. He had his own excellent band and performed like the experienced artist he is. They really came to prominence in the 90's and, as he said, some of his material was 30 years old. But his anti-racist lyrics were popular and well-received.
Then on stage came Horace Andy's new band, young and mainly American and really tight. And Horace wowed the crowd with his songs, his famous tremolo voice and his energy. He's no longer a young man but he bopped around the stage and even over-ran his stage time. For me, the best set of the night.
The band remained on stage and were joined by Omar Perry, son of the famous Lee 'Scratch' Perry who played at the festival a couple of years ago. Following Horace Andy was not going to be easy but, in spite of a few false starts, Omar worked hard to get the crowd behind him, and succeeded with his more bouncy songs and call and response with the slightly smaller crowd (due to buses leaving for Rodez and Albi just after his set commenced).
I returned to the chalet we had rented for the weekend at 3 am and drunk a nightcap from the bottle of good Martinique rum, a present from the Blackboard Jungle DJ and MC who I had picked up and returned to the airport. A good end to a magnificent weekend!!
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