Regular old weeknights don't have to be boring. House of Reggae at Delray's Boston's on the Beach, hosted by Kulcha Shok Muzik, makes sure of that. The label's head DJ Lance-O is keeping things irie and bumping in Palm Beach County every Monday night.
With no cover for ladies from 9 to 11 p.m. and plenty of fine drink specials, there's no reason for you to continue your diligent but uneventful Netflix routine.
For the past eight years, the weekly party has been consistent, featuring reggae cover band Rhythmation for most of the evening and DJ Lance-O spinning a variety of Caribbean-style tracks before and in between live performances. The band itself has played Boston's for 20 years. Rhythmation has transitioned from playing straight reggae to incorporating a wide range of genres in its act, including soca and dancehall. This attracts everyone from islanders to the Caribbean curious.
Lance-O praises the quality of Rhythmation's musical abilities as part of the reason for the night's success. Its lead singer and keyboard player have performed with Inner Circle and Third World, two of reggae's most renowned acts.
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"It just shows you the caliber of the entertainment there as a whole," he describes. Now that the crowd has gotten younger, he says, Lance-O has gone in a direction similar to that of Rhythmation. He plays more fast-paced dancehall in tune with the high BPM songs taking over the radio airwaves.
Lance-O noticed larger changes in House of Reggae after Boston's went through about two months of renovations during the summer of 2012. And although the restaurant went from a homegrown, rootsy layout with old cedarwood, it wasn't just the slick transformation to a sports bar that he saw.
"The vibe changed. The music changed a little bit too, because now it's a little more uptempo, but you know that's kind of been the scenario in the last couple of years," he says.
House of Reggae is just one part of Lance-O's schedule. A reggae veteran with over 30 years of immersion in the genre, he founded Kulcha Shok Muzik in the '90s and DJs regularly throughout South Florida, promoting the reggae scene. He also performs at Reggae Sundays at Jazid in Miami Beach.
See also: Kulcha Shok's Lance-O Talks 16 Years of Jazid
"[Palm Beach County's reggae scene] is definitely prevalent and it seems to go over well with a lot of people," he reflects.
Lance-O enjoys House of Reggae because the challenge of adapting to new music keeps him abreast of new tracks which he may not have otherwise been familiar.
"When you get to do what you love, and then you see the crowd react the way they do to what you love, there's nothing in the world that can express the joy that you get from that."
House of Reggae, every Monday night, 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. at Boston's on the Beach, 40 S. Ocean Blvd., Delray Beach. $5 cover; free for ladies from 9 to 11 p.m. and there are various drink specials. Call 561-278-3364, or visit kulchashok.com.
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