New life for Vanuatu reggae performers

The Pacific reggae performance group Younglife Band stages its Wairarapa debut at King Street Live in Masterton tomorrow.

Players in the award-winning Younglife Band from Vanuatu, who have struggled through poverty and a lack of education to seize international acclaim, will stage their Wairarapa debut tomorrow.

The five-piece Pacific reggae band had become one of the most popular live acts in Melanesia since forming in 2008 and would play King Street Live in Masterton as part of a six-date North Island tour this month, tour manager Mike Hogan said.

In 2011 the band won the Fair Play International Anti-corruption music competition, travelling to Kenya in Africa and performing at the Sarakasi Dome in Nairobi, Mr Hogan said.

The band had evolved in to "a colourful and electric live act which has consistently wowed audiences with their unique blend of authentic island afro reggae, custom rhythm, and huge on-stage energy", he said.

Younglife Band had also shared the bill at a variety of concerts with renowned international artists including Julian Marley, Grams Morgan, Capelton, Sauti Sol, De Bruces A Mi and the Red Eyes.

"The band has its roots in the youth culture of Vanuatu, most often singing about life for the increasingly urbanised youth population of Vanuatu who live in the shantytowns around Port Vila," Mr Hogan said.

Poverty, poor health, unemployment, violence and corruption constantly plagued the young in the city, Mr Hogan said, but despite this, the ni-Vanuatu people remain generally happy and vibrant and have helped win Vanuatu a branding as "the happiest place on earth" for many years running.

"Despite most of the members of Younglife Band having a limited education, being unable to read or write, being unemployed and owning almost no musical instruments, they have evolved from an amateur village group into a major reggae powerhouse.

"Much of this change is due to the help and guidance of a large local youth centre and theatre, Wan Smolbag, which provides a practice space and instruments for them and many other young local bands and musicians."

Mr Hogan said the band had been revelling in their debut tour of New Zealand that had so far rewarded them with two sold-out Wanganui dates and "a big reggae crowd and good weather" at the Newtown Festival in the capital.

The band members had been relishing new personal experiences during their time in New Zealand as well, he said, including routine events most Kiwis take for granted like using a coffee machine and an automatic clothes washer.

"Doing the washing and making coffee are totally new experiences for them or seeing a commuter train for the first time.

"It's pretty cool to be a part of that and for a first tour, professionally and personally, it's been a fantastic experience for us all."

Tickets to the King Street Live show cost $10 and are available only at the doors, which open at 7pm. For more information about the band go to the Young-Life-Band page on Facebook.