Reggae lovers jammed to the tunes of the Jamaican music genre at the Rockaway Beach Amphitheatre.
Photo by Gabriele Holtermann
Closing out the unofficial end of summer, Far Rockaway residents were jamming to “Reggae on the Boardwalk” at the Rockaway Beach Amphitheatre at Shore Front Parkway at Beach 94th Street on Sept. 3.
The event was part of the “Queens Live!” free concert series, presented by Queens Borough President Donovan Richards and produced in partnership with NYC Parks and the Kupferberg Center for the Arts at Queens College, celebrating the popular Jamaican genre.
Ahead of the West Indian Day Parade in Brooklyn, New York, DJs Sir Tommy, WiFiOG, Jah Earl, Baddamon, Amy Wachtel and Chanter The Timeless Sound with Prezident Carter spun Reggae tunes exclusively on vinyl records as a multicultural crowd enjoyed the famous Jamaican genre.
The sounds were blasting from a massive 10-foot-tall “wall of speakers” — or amplified mobile system — owned and operated by Chanter “The Timeless Sound.”
Chanter, who lives in Flatbush, Brooklyn, said it took him and his son about an hour to assemble the giant system and that the sound system culture originated in Jamaica. Coming from a music family, Chanter was influenced by Reggae from an early age.
“It’s my culture. I grew up in it,” said Jamaican-born Chanter, who plays Reggae sounds on the Coney Island Boardwalk.
Carter van Pelt, founder of Coney Island Reggae, brought Reggae on the Boardwalk to Queens in 2021 in collaboration with Phil Ballman, director of Cultural Affairs & Tourism at the Office of the Queens Borough President and Queens Borough President Donovan Richards.
The WCKR DJ and curator for Queens-based VP records explained that the sound system was culturally specific to Jamaica and the Caribbean.
“This music was really originally recorded to be heard at big outdoor dances like this, and you don’t get to hear it like this in New York very often,” van…
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