IN CONCERT
What: Katchafire with Jordan T, Iya Terra and the Leg Up Program
When: Saturday, 9 p.m.
Where: Sugar Nightclub (858 Yates St.)
Tickets: $26.50 at Lyle鈥檚 Place, Jupiter, Vinyl Envy, Fascinating Rhythm (Nanaimo) and ticketweb.ca
Note: Katchafire also performs tonight at the Waverly Hotel in Cumberland
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New Zealand reggae band Katchafire is marking two decades as a group with a world tour, and a Victoria stop occupies a key spot on its Canadian calendar.
In recent years, Victoria performances have become a staple for Katchafire, an eight-piece Maori group led by brothers Logan and Jordan Bell. The band has made three appearances at the Victoria Ska and Reggae Festival dating back to 2010, the first of which marked its first performance in sa国际传媒.
鈥淲e鈥檙e looking forward to coming back,鈥� said singer-guitarist Logan Bell, crediting Ska festival producer Dane Roberts with 鈥渁lways bringing good music to the people.鈥�
鈥淗e鈥檚 always been good to us. We鈥檙e friends.鈥�
The group started in 1997 as a cover band that played familiar reggae hits. Katchafire 鈥� whose name is a riff on Catch a Fire, the 1973 album by Bob Marley and the Wailers 鈥� eventually grew into its own as an original act, but it wasn鈥檛 until 2002 that the group saw a future outside New Zealand. In the 15 years since, music has been a full-time pursuit for the group, which now finds itself 鈥渙n a tour bus playing five or six shows a week,鈥� Bell said.
In its early days, Katchafire filled its shows with Marley material. The late reggae legend has always been a huge star in New Zealand, Bell said, and a reliance on his material helped the group gain a foothold with audiences. 鈥淣ew Zealand bought the most Bob Marley albums per capita in the world, so it gives you an idea of how fanatical New Zealand is about reggae.鈥�
Katchafire has been inserting some special covers into its set in honour of its 20th anniversary. In addition to Dennis Brown鈥檚 If I Had the World, Bell said, the band is going back to playing Punky Reggae Party, a Bob Marley favourite from 1977 that was a Katchafire concert favourite during its cover-band era. 鈥淲e are paying tribute to where we started.鈥�
Bell and his bandmates have become unofficial ambassadors for New Zealand reggae, in part due to their consistent touring. Despite the genre鈥檚 immense popularity in New Zealand, only Katchafire, Fat Freddy鈥檚 Drop, Trinity Roots, Shapeshifter and the Black Seeds have made inroads in North America.
鈥淭here are not too many bands that have explored outside of New Zealand,鈥� Bell said, 鈥渂ut the country has a huge history of reggae. It鈥檚 very popular commercially back home. A lot of Indigenous people can identify with the messages and struggle.鈥�
The success of Katchafire didn鈥檛 come without struggle. Three key members of the group 鈥� saxophonist Jamey Ferguson, keyboardist Haani Totorewa and guitarist Grenville Bell, Logan and Jordan Bell鈥檚 father 鈥� departed a few years ago. Up to that point, the original lineup had been in place for 17 years.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a hard life, but one of my biggest achievements is being able to keep the band together,鈥� Logan Bell said.
鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 get any easier. It鈥檚 like becoming an adult 鈥� the more you grow up, the more responsibility you鈥檝e got and the harder it is. It鈥檚 harder to better your last album and to keep the momentum going on tour, and to keep the love for it, too.鈥�
Katchafire members live in New Zealand, but spend half the year on the road, two or three months in the U.S. alone. The band first hit the United States in 2006, and has been a viable draw ever since, Bell said.
Life as an independent act can have diminishing returns, depending on the musical tastes of the moment, but being in a band with family members has been a blessing, he said.
鈥淥ur strength is that we鈥檙e a family unit, not only by blood. We鈥檝e had that bond. Sometimes we bicker and fight, but if we come into a crisis, we know how to pull it together, too. I think the pluses far outweigh the negatives. Teamwork makes the dream work.鈥�