Spice Resumes Annual Tour Of Europe This Summer
After igniting Europe in the Summer of 2019, Queen of Dancehall Spice is set to head back to the mainland of the continent, from June 26 to July 3 for a slew of performances spanning Portugal, Belgium, Switzerland, France, Germany, Sweden and The Netherlands.
Spice is also booked to perform at the return staging of Reggae Sumfest in Montego Bay on July 22, and also has dates in the United States and Trinidad, as well as the controversial Pride Toronto LGBTQ+ festival on June 24 in Canada.
In her 2019 Summer performances, Spice had stormed through Europe like a boss, on her Summer Euro Tour. The St. Catherine native had swept across far-flung places in Europe during the period, in a series of performance, spanning the Uppsala Reggae Festival in Sweden, Roterdam Reggae Festival in the Netherlands, Bomboclat Festival in Belgium. She had also kicked up a storm at the Nottinghill Carnival in the UK and other shows in North America and the Caribbean, as well as Reggae Sumfest in Montego Bay.
A year later in July 2020, the Cool It artist had highlighted how much she missed touring, which has been dampened since the advent of the COVID 19 virus.
In her 2019 performance, in Paris, there was a mammoth crowd that showed up for her performance, where they danced and sang along with her, throwing ice around as Spice rubbing cubes of ice on the doting fans.
She got a rousing reception at the Uppsala Reggae Festival in Sweden, where she was the lead act, along woth her Jamaican compatriots Jahmeil, Junior Kelly, Anthony B, and Horace Andy.
Two days before she arrived in Sweden, some fans had expressed worry about the incarceration of African American rapper A$AP Rocky there, and cautioned her to be careful as a result.
However, a strident Spice had uploaded a video of herself in Uppsala the day before, striding purposefully towards a tour bus with a knapsack on her back, confidently declaring that she was in town and ready to entertain, noting: “Stockholm, the queen is here”.
On show night, Spice and her Swedish fans had a ball, as the thousands of Swedes who gathered at the arena, loved her onstage antics, with scores of them swarming the stage at her invitation, to showcase their dancing skills, with one woman even climbed up onto the stage truss to gyrate.
At the end of that show, Spice posted another shot of herself squatting on stage, smiling with her left hand raised, index finger pointing to the sky the multitude of Swedes mimicked her actions indicating their pleasure at the performance.
As for Reggae Sumfest, Spice was set to be presented with the Queen of Dancehall” title at the 28th staging of the Reggae Sumfest in 2020, but the music festival was aborted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
At the time, Joe Bogdanovich, CEO of DownSound Entertainment and promoter Reggae Sumfest, had told The Gleaner that Spice had been among the Jamaican female artistes who had taken what he described as a “leading role in the music industry, both locally and internationally”.
“Many younger artistes have her to thank for laying the foundation that has led to their success. Spice has performed at Reggae Sumfest more than 10 times, so it is only fitting that she receives the title on our stage. She is an amazing artiste, and we look forward to honouring her,” Joe had said.
However, Downsound Entertainment has not announced yet, how and whether the award will be presented to Spice this Summer.
In 2012, Reggse Sumfest had crowned Lady Saw Queen of Dancehall, for outstanding contribution to Jamaican music and popular culture, on a stage the Its Raining artist said was the same one from which she was banned more than a decade earlier.
In her acceptance speech, Lady Saw had paid homage to the female Dancehall artists who preceded her reeling out names such as Sister Nancy, Junie Ranks, Lady G, Sandi Starr, Macka Diamond, Queen Paula as well as Spice other female artists she said had been carrying the genre’s musical banner.
“Tanya Stephens yuh a one a di baddest ting inna Dancehall, an wi naw teck back no chat,” she had said.