Rebel Salute goes virtual with docuseries and live show

Reggae performance pioneer Tony Rebel has announced that the 2021 staging of Rebel Salute will be in the format of a docuseries and live show.

"With over 420 hours of Rebel Salute on tape, our team thought we would make something special out of this edition of the show," he told THE WEEKEND STAR.

"We have, for the past 27 years, recorded the live performances and the overall production to preserve it, and we want to give back to the people worldwide who are having withdrawal syndrome and keep asking what our plans are."

The Sweet Jamaica singer, whose given name is Patrick Barrett, said that 'The People's Show' will be livestreamed across several platforms next Friday, January 15 and Saturday, January 16, but the official line-up has not yet been revealed.

He said, "We have hosted Rebel Salute virtually every year. Along with the physical stage show set-up, millions watch us over the Internet. Now, in keeping with our mantra which has always been to keep our patrons safe, we are having a special edition since the pandemic is still here."

The docuseries and live performances will be arranged in five segments and include some behind-the-scenes coverage, Tony Rebel explained, "so that our patrons can get an idea of how and why we do, what we do".

Rebel Salute's inaugural staging was in 1994 in Brooks Park, Manchester, in honour of Tony Rebel's birthday, and exponentially evolved through the past two decades into a festival. It has featured many of Jamaica's finest roots-reggae performers, past and present.

One of its signature features is the Herb Curb, where recreational, medicinal and spiritual uses of marijuana are highlighted through symposiums.

"This year's virtual staging is to let people see what Rebel Salute was, is and will be about - many don't even know when it was in Manchester and St Elizabeth. Some of the footage we have prepared for the docuseries has performances by persons who we will never see perform live again. We will announce more in the coming week," Tony Rebel said.