International Reggae Manager and tour coordinator Copeland Forbes recently paid a two weeks visit to Bankok, Thailand to meet with some of the top concert promoters in that region. The 14-day-trip was at the invitation of long time promoter Steve Creighton who along with Larry Riggs who owns the Plantation Inn and Reggae Cafe in Ft.Lauderdale were the top duo who promoted many reggae concerts at the Reggae Cafe in Ft.Lauderdale in the 90s.
The proposed concerts will be in celebration of Forbes,s forty seventh (47) anniversary in the music fraternity and to celebrate the release of the much anticipated book "REGGAE MY LIFE IS” written by Clyde McKenzie which is slated for release February 2009 to co-inside with Reggae month celebrations. The veteran manager Forbes said that he have signed contracts and made a few deals and arrangements to stage four concerts in that region. The first one will be in Koh Samui an island off the coast of Bankok and will feature reggae queen Marcia Griffiths along with the Live Wyya Band who will do a one month stint at Bankok’s famous club for reggae music "The Reggae Pub" a 4000 capacity venue owned and operated by promoter Lersak Ubolsatit who has been celebrating Bob Marley’s Earthday since 1988 and vowed to make the twenty first (21) anniversary celebrations the biggest ever.
According to Forbes Reggae Pub is one of the best indoor - outdoor venues he has ever seen. The outdoor section, which seats over two thousand patrons, has four huge screens for patrons on the outside who cannot see the stage and those who prefers the outdoor ambiance. It carries a merchandise section which has just about everything red-gold and green from Golf Bags, Roller Skates, Skiis, Sail Boats, T-shirts, Skate Boards and clothing line to name a few. Forbes also explained that he also has a contract to provide four (4) clubs DJ who will play live music at the Reggae Pub four nights per week. Each DJ will be on a three month contract and in addition to his/her salary will be provided with return air ticket, accommodation, transportation, food of their choice and of course a professional female Thai masseur who’ll be assigned to you for massage at your request stated a smiling Forbes.
Copeland also met with Russian millionaire businessman Nikolai Leukhin owner of Thailand’s top resorts Nickie Beach and Naissance Resorts whose rates starts from $5000 USD up to $10000 per night. Nikolai who according to Forbes was very pleased and happy to see the results and accomplishments by the Jamaican Athletes at the Olympics which was going on while he was in Thailand and the Bird Nest was just a hour and a half away by plane. As a gift to Forbes for the dominance by the Jamaican athletes. Nicholai gave Forbes one of the resorts for him to stay while he was in Bankok and according to Copeland, I had two female Thai Masseur for massage, two cooks, a driver, a sailing boat and a bike to ride if I wanted to go into the city on my own.
Forbes also met with Nikolai’s partner Gaven Purisima of One Ball Company Ltd. who was the promoter of the Michael Jackson’s Thailand concerts on his last world tour and had discussions to stage four big outdoor reggae concerts and was taken on Nikolai’s yacht up the Mekong River to look at possible sites in Puhket (in Bankok), Ho Chi Minh City, Democratic People’s Republic of Laos Democratic Cambodia and Socialist Republic of Vietnam. These concerts will be staged to celebrate Forbes’s 47th anniversary and his book release- launch which will have a version in Thai language when it is released in that country. Forbes who returns to Jamaica this week after making stops in Nagoya, Japan, to finalise arrangements for his book release and anniversary celebrations in that country. Copeland who will be working in conjunction with Headline Entertainment (whom he recently joined forces with) on these projects said he has planned several launches and anniversary celebration concerts in different parts of the world. Places like down under in Australia-New Zealand, four countries in Europe, the United Kingdom, USA, Canada and the final one in Jamaica later in 2009 and will feature The Mighty Diamonds (the first artist he managed) and most of the artists that he has worked with in his 47 years in the music industry.
Posted on September 15, 2008 01:24
Congrats Mr. Copeland...it shows many Jamaicans that we are well represented throughout the world. Networking and hard work is a big part of success.
Posted on October 16, 2008 13:31
Big up Copeland...congrats.. Happy you discovering new ground for our loved genre reggae... One love
Posted on November 2, 2008 12:05
this is great work
Posted on January 28, 2009 14:23
My Lord, Copeland........ Thank You very much for all of your deep Love,
that you have for Humanity. You Have Much More great work to do. We
are so Blessed to have your visions shared with us. Mahasin, Fairfax, Va.
P.S. Hope that you will come to the D.C. area for your U.S. Stop. We will have massage for you here. smile. The Best........smile.