African Head Charge is coming to ‘De Melkweg’ in Amsterdam on October 20. This sunday the show will start at 16.00 hrs. This group was formed in 1980 by British producer Adrian Sherwood and Jamaican percussionist Bonjo Iyabinghi Noah. The project began as a heavily experimental dub combination of post-punk and jazz, mixed with traditional rastadrums. Some of the band’s legendary albums include ‘My Life In A Hole In The Ground’, ‘Off The Beaten Track’ and ‘In Pursuit Of Shashamane Land’, to name a few. After thirty years and eleven albums, Bonjo decided to retreat for a while to find new inspiration. Twelve years later, this led to the exceptionally well-received new album Trip To Bolgatanga, which was released in the summer of 2023. This event will be headlined by African Head Charge, mixed live by Adrian Sherwood himself!

Adrian Sherwood

For more than four decades, Adrian Sherwood has been constantly pushing boundaries and his name is praised by anyone with any interest in dub, reggae, post-punk, industrial, bass music and avant-garde. As the founder of the label On-U-Sound, he has brought bands and artists such as Creation Rebel, New Age Steppers, African Head Charge, Dub Syndicate and many others to international attention. As a producer, Adrian has worked with artists such as Lee “Scratch” Perry, Prince Far I, Junior Delagado, I Roy and Mikey Dread and most recently Horace Andy. In addition to mixing African Head Charge live, he will also play a one-hour DJ set with his own dubplates!

Mad Professor

Guyana-born Neil Joseph Stephen Fraser, known by his stage name Mad Professor, is a British dub music producer, engineer, and remixer. He has collaborated with reggae artists such as Lee “Scratch” Perry, Sly & Robbie, Pato Banton, Jah Shaka, Macka B and Horace Andy, as well as artists outside of traditional reggae and dub, such as Sade, Massive Attack, The Orb, Gaudi, Grace Jones and Perry Farrell. This evening he will dub none other than the legend Earl 16 in sound system style! Since the early 1980s, Earl 16 has released numerous albums in Jamaica with King Jammy, among others, and in the UK with Mad Professor and Gussie P. Of course, we also know him as the reggae voice in the productions of Leftfield and Dreadzone.

Gaudi

Italian/British producer Gaudi is a worldwide favourite in the dub scene. He has contributed to productions and remixes for acts such as The Orb, Steel Pulse, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Tricky, Simple Minds, Lamb, Horace Andy, Groove Armada, and Sizzla. During his energetic solo performances, he mixes a DJ set with live instruments and he will definitely blow the roof off as the closing act of this event!

Rub-a-Dub Ramses & Lyrical Benjie

The Amsterdam and internationally renowned reggae veterans Rub-a-Dub Ramses and Lyrical Benjie will kick off the event. Both have been performing all over Europe and beyond for over 30 years. They have also been doing shows together for a while. With Ramses on the decks playing dubs and riddims and Lyrical Benjie on the mic. These guys will immediately set the mood and take you into the vibes of this fantastic event!

Paulisme

Paulisme is the initiator of the Amsterdam Dub Event. He started the ADE during the ADE to gain recognition for dub music as one of the pillars of dance. No Dub, No Dance! Rub-A-Dub Ramses and Paulisme joined forces to make Amsterdam Dub Event a household name. Paulism will host the evening!

WWW: African Head Charge mixed by Adrian Sherwood / Mad Professor ft Earl 16 / Gaudi | Melkweg Amsterdam