Burning Spear — Festival des Vieilles Charrues, Carhaix, 1999

Live concert film of Burning Spear at the Festival des Vieilles Charrues in Carhaix-Plouguer, Brittany, on 18 July 1999. Behind the name Burning Spear stands Winston Rodney, a founding figure of roots reggae from Saint Ann, Jamaica — the parish of Marcus Garvey, whose Pan-Africanist legacy runs through his work. On the main stage of the French festival, Rodney delivers a set built on his classics — ‘Columbus’, ‘Man in the Hills’, ‘Foggy Road’, ‘Door Peep’ and ‘African Postman’ — carried by a horn section and a heavy rhythm, true to the band’s late-1990s live aesthetic. This 1999 concert captures Burning Spear’s stage power, moving between meditative trance, incantatory singing and Rastafari messages. Filmed in France, the recording documents a significant moment in his long career of international touring. For fans of Jamaican roots reggae, this full concert from the Vieilles Charrues offers a representative view of Winston Rodney’s repertoire and live energy at the close of the decade.