Six Flags Reggae & Dancehall 2012: Mavado, Barrington Levy & I-Octane - Caribbean Summer Concert Series DAY 2
On Sunday, August 12, 2012, Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey shifted into Reggae and Dancehall mode as the Caribbean Summer Concert Series continued at the Northern Star Arena.
Presented by TriniFly Promotions and G City Promotions, the Sunday concert brought together Mavado, Barrington Levy and I-Octane for an evening celebrating Caribbean music during the 50th-anniversary year of independence for both Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.
Julianspromos covered the concert with Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson hosting the on-camera coverage and interviewing Mavado and I-Octane, while Julian C. Hackett shot and edited the footage.
Original flyer for the August 12, 2012 Caribbean Summer Concert Series at Six Flags Great Adventure.
Reggae and Dancehall Take Over the Northern Star Arena
The Sunday concert followed a very different opening day at Six Flags.
One day earlier, Hurricane Harbor had hosted a Soca and urban crossover program headlined by Fabolous. By Sunday, the focus had moved squarely toward Jamaican Reggae and Dancehall inside the Northern Star Arena.
The original flyer billed Barrington Levy, Mavado and I-Octane as the featured live performers, with Road International, Massive B and Banky Hype also part of the entertainment.
Mavado Brings the Gully Side to Six Flags
Mavado arrived at Six Flags as one of Dancehall’s biggest international names.
When he hit the Northern Star Arena stage, HOT 97 personality Jabba introduced him before the set launched into a run of familiar records including “Star Bwoy,” “Gangsta fi Life,” “So Special,” “Destiny,” “Neva Believe You” and “Money Changer.”
The crowd responded immediately.
Fans waved flags and shouted back during Mavado’s roll call, with Brooklyn receiving one of the loudest responses of the evening. His performance later moved into songs including “Delilah” and “Come Into My Room.”
The Julianspromos footage captured the high-energy side of a performer who had become one of the defining voices of modern Jamaican Dancehall.
Vivaa Speaks With Mavado
Away from the stage, Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson also interviewed Mavado as part of Julianspromos’ coverage of the concert.
That gave viewers a different look at the artist from the one they saw commanding the arena.
By the summer of 2012, Mavado’s career had already stretched far beyond Jamaica, and his Six Flags appearance placed him before a large Caribbean-American audience in the Northeast.
Barrington Levy Brings the Classics
If Mavado represented one generation of Jamaican music, Barrington Levy brought decades of Reggae and Dancehall history to the same stage.
Backed by Detour Posse, Levy opened with “Living Dangerously” and moved through a catalogue filled with songs that had become standards, including “Prison Oval Rock,” “Under Mi Sensi,” “Broader Than Broadway,” “Black Roses,” “Too Experienced” and “Teach the Youth.”
The contrast worked beautifully.
A younger Dancehall audience that came for Mavado and I-Octane was also hearing a veteran whose music helped shape the sound they grew up with.
Barrington’s presence gave the Sunday concert something deeper than a lineup of current hits. It connected different eras of Jamaican music on the same stage.
I-Octane at Six Flags
I-Octane was another major attraction on the Sunday bill.
By 2012, he had established himself as one of Jamaica’s leading newer-generation Reggae and Dancehall artists, balancing conscious material with songs built for Dancehall audiences.
Julianspromos captured both his performance and a pre-stage interview with Vivaa.
The footage moved from conversation into performance, giving viewers a look at I-Octane immediately before he stepped onto the Six Flags stage.
Vivaa Behind the Interviews
Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson handled Julianspromos’ on-camera artist coverage at the concert, interviewing both Mavado and I-Octane during the assignment.
That access gave the Six Flags footage a more personal feel than a straightforward concert recording.
Viewers could hear from the artists around the event and then watch them perform in front of the Northern Star Arena crowd.
By this point, Vivaa had already covered numerous Caribbean concerts and artist interviews for Julianspromos, making her a familiar presence across the platform’s early video coverage.
A Celebration of Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago at 50
The timing gave the concert another layer.
The flyer promoted the night as a celebration of the 50th anniversaries of independence for Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.
Jamaica had marked 50 years of independence on August 6, 2012, just six days before the concert. Trinidad and Tobago would celebrate its own 50th anniversary later that month on August 31.
Against that backdrop, thousands of Caribbean families and music fans were spending a summer Sunday inside one of the Northeast’s biggest amusement parks with Jamaican music filling the arena.
More Than a Concert
Part of the appeal of the Caribbean Summer Concert Series was the Six Flags setting itself.
People could spend the day enjoying the amusement park before moving toward the live music, creating an experience that felt different from a traditional theater or nightclub concert.
Contemporary coverage described the unusual sight of Reggae and Dancehall performances happening while roller coasters continued moving around the surrounding park.
For Caribbean families traveling from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and beyond, the day combined an amusement-park trip with a major Caribbean concert.
Seven Summers at Six Flags
The 2012 Caribbean Summer Concert Series marked the seventh year that TriniFly Promotions had brought its Caribbean entertainment events to Six Flags Great Adventure.
Over those years, Six Flags had developed into a familiar summer destination for Caribbean music fans in the Northeast.
The August 2012 weekend demonstrated just how broad that audience had become.
Saturday offered Hip-Hop, R&B and Caribbean crossover sounds at Hurricane Harbor.
Sunday brought the music back to Jamaica with Mavado, Barrington Levy and I-Octane.
From the Julianspromos Archives
On August 12, 2012, the Northern Star Arena at Six Flags Great Adventure became a meeting place for different generations of Jamaican music.
Mavado brought the energy of contemporary Dancehall.
I-Octane represented a newer generation moving between Reggae and Dancehall.
And Barrington Levy delivered classics that had already influenced decades of Jamaican music.
Julianspromos was there with Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson interviewing Mavado and I-Octane and capturing the artists during a Caribbean summer weekend at Six Flags.
More than a decade later, the footage takes viewers back to a night when Reggae, Dancehall, roller coasters and Caribbean flags all shared the same New Jersey skyline.
