Caribbean Beach Fest 2012 at Jones Beach: Machel On d’ Beach
On July 8, 2012, the sounds of Soca, Reggae and Dancehall moved onto one of Long Island’s best-known concert stages as Caribbean Beach Fest made its debut at Nikon at Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh, New York.
Presented by Foreign Bass Entertainment, the inaugural festival was built around Machel Montano and the HD Family under the fitting banner “Machel On d’ Beach” — M.O.B.
The lineup brought together artists from Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and the wider Caribbean, creating a summer concert that felt bigger than a typical New York fete. Julianspromos was there to capture the action, with Julian C. Hackett shooting and editing the coverage from Jones Beach.
Machel On d’ Beach
Machel Montano arrived at Jones Beach in the middle of a huge year.
At Trinidad and Tobago Carnival earlier in 2012, he had won Groovy Soca Monarch with “Mr Fete,” Power Soca Monarch with “Pump Yuh Flag,” and the Road March title with “Pump Yuh Flag.”
Caribbean Beach Fest also arrived during a milestone period in his career, with the event promotion celebrating 30 years of Machel Montano in music.
That made the M.O.B. concept especially fitting: one of Soca’s biggest stars taking over a major New York summer stage during one of the strongest years of his career.
Original promotional artwork for the first Caribbean Beach Fest — Machel On d’ Beach — at Nikon at Jones Beach Theater on July 8, 2012.
Machel Montano Meets the Next Generation
One of the surviving Julianspromos highlights captures Machel Montano and Young Devyn at the festival.
Young Devyn was still a child performer at the time, but she was already making her presence felt in Caribbean music. A year earlier, she had become the first artist ever interviewed by Julianspromos, appearing on camera with Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson while still an up-and-coming talent.
Seeing her on the same Jones Beach event as Machel only a year later offered an early glimpse at how quickly she was progressing.
Kerwin Du Bois Brings “Bacchanalist” Energy
Kerwin Du Bois was also part of the Caribbean Beach Fest lineup, arriving in New York during the breakout period surrounding “Bacchanalist.”
The song had become one of the defining Soca records of the 2012 Carnival season, finishing just behind Machel Montano’s “Mr Fete” in the Groovy Soca Monarch competition.
At Jones Beach, Kerwin brought that momentum onto the stage in front of a New York Caribbean audience.
Cham Brings Dancehall to Jones Beach
Caribbean Beach Fest was never designed as a Soca-only event.
Cham, widely known as Baby Cham, represented the Jamaican Dancehall side of the bill and brought a different energy to the Jones Beach stage.
His appearance helped give the event the broader Caribbean identity suggested by its name, moving between the Soca sounds of Trinidad and Tobago and the Reggae and Dancehall traditions of Jamaica.
I-Octane Keeps the Jamaican Energy Going
I-Octane added another Jamaican voice to the festival.
By 2012, he had already built a strong following through songs that mixed Reggae, Dancehall and conscious themes, making him a natural fit for an event bringing different sides of Caribbean music onto one stage.
His Jones Beach appearance added even more range to a lineup that could move from Soca to Dancehall to Reggae without losing the crowd.
A Lineup Built Around the Caribbean
The wider advertised lineup made the scale of Caribbean Beach Fest clear.
Alongside Machel Montano, Kerwin Du Bois, Cham and I-Octane, promotion for the event also featured names including Patrice Roberts, Farmer Nappy, Walker Hornung, Phoenix, Young Devyn, the Ahtik Studio Family, Captain Jason Benn and Jamsey P.
It was an ambitious mix.
Machel and the HD Family represented the center of the Soca side of the event, while artists such as Cham and I-Octane brought Jamaican Dancehall and Reggae into the picture.
The result was a lineup designed for Caribbean music fans rather than one particular genre.
Celebrating Trinidad & Tobago and Jamaica at 50
There was another reason the timing of Caribbean Beach Fest mattered.
In 2012, both Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica celebrated 50 years of independence.
For a festival bringing together artists from both countries, the anniversary gave the concert an added sense of occasion.
The music reflected that connection naturally: Trinidad and Tobago’s Soca shared the stage with Jamaican Reggae and Dancehall while Caribbean communities across New York were celebrating two landmark anniversaries.
Caribbean Music Takes Over Jones Beach
The venue made the day feel different from many other Caribbean events happening around New York at the time.
Nikon at Jones Beach Theater was a major outdoor amphitheater accustomed to hosting large national touring acts. Bringing a Caribbean festival onto that stage gave the event a scale beyond the clubs, ballrooms and smaller spaces that made up much of the city’s Caribbean nightlife.
The backdrop was different.
The crowd was outdoors.
And the music that usually filled Brooklyn, Queens and Caribbean parties across the city was now ringing out across Jones Beach.
For the artists on stage and the Caribbean audience in attendance, it was a chance to experience familiar music in a much larger summer-concert setting.
Julianspromos at Caribbean Beach Fest
Julianspromos documented performances throughout the event, preserving appearances by Machel Montano, Young Devyn, Kerwin Du Bois, Cham and I-Octane.
Julian C. Hackett shot and edited the coverage, moving between artists and performances to capture different sides of the festival.
The footage still gives viewers a feel for what made Caribbean Beach Fest interesting: it wasn’t simply a Machel Montano concert, a Soca show or a Dancehall show.
It brought all of those worlds together.
A Summer Day at Jones Beach
Looking back, Caribbean Beach Fest 2012 captures a particular moment in Caribbean music.
Machel Montano was coming off a dominant Carnival season.
Kerwin Du Bois was in the middle of the “Bacchanalist” era.
Young Devyn was still at the beginning of her career.
Cham and I-Octane brought Jamaica into the mix.
And New York’s Caribbean audience got to experience all of it at Jones Beach.
What began as the first Caribbean Beach Fest — Machel On d’ Beach became a snapshot of Caribbean music in the summer of 2012: different islands, different sounds and different generations sharing the same stage.
From the Julianspromos Archives
On July 8, 2012, Caribbean Beach Fest brought Machel Montano and a wide Caribbean lineup to Nikon at Jones Beach Theater.
The original flyers and Julianspromos footage preserve a day when Soca, Reggae and Dancehall came together on one of Long Island’s most recognizable concert stages, with Julian C. Hackett shooting and editing the coverage.
More than a decade later, the performances still offer a window into the artists, songs and energy that were moving Caribbean music in New York during the summer of 2012.
