Yule Love It! (From Oxford Mail)

Yule Love It!

8:00am Friday 18th December 2009

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Tim Hughes gets into the Christmas spirit – and finds it tasting of Jamaican rum.

SICK of Slade, bored of Bing and tearing your hair out at the thought of another jingly jangly festive number by Rea, Lewie or Wham!?

Then help is at hand in the form of a decidedly unseasonal friend – reggae!

Yes folks, forget red hoods and white beards, and start thinking about dreadlocks, ’cos Oxford is gearing up for a dub Christmas.

Christmas Eve sees the return of a genuine Oxford tradition: A Reggae Christmas – OX4’s traditional yuletide roots fest featuring legendary reggae band Mackating, DJs Count Skylarkin, pictured, and Wrongtom and those fun-loving elves at Trashy.

The show takes place, as ever at the O2 Academy, and is, by popular consent, the only place to be on the 24th.

“It’s one of the biggest days in Oxford’s musical calendar,” says Aidan ‘Count Skylarkin’ Larkin.

“I have no idea how it started, but it’s been going on at the Academy, and before that The Zodiac, for years, and has become an Oxford institution.

“It doesn’t get the coverage of the Cowley Road Carnival but it’s up there as a date in the diary; it’s the day you see everyone out.”

Starting life as a low-key Oxford band, Mackating have gone on to become an international draw – going as far as to score hits in Jamaica itself.

And the 12-piece band, formerly fronted by the late-lamented frontman Slimma, are as much a part of an Oxford Christmas as the St Gile’s Christmas Tree.

“This will be our 14th Christmas Eve party,” says bassman David Norland, from Blackbird Leys.

“The first one we did was the year the Zodiac opened, and it has stuck.

“It’s become a real festive tradition, and is always a good night. It’s a time when people who live outside Oxford come back and meet up with their friends. It’s a unique occasion, and we try our best to make it a party atmosphere.”

They’ll be joined by a secret band, consisting of familiar East Oxford faces.

“It’s going to be a big old party,” adds Aidan. “But it’s also a wonderful coming-together of Oxford folk, and it’s something I’m really proud to be involved in.

“People love this band. They’ve always operated on their own terms and there is no barrier between them and the audience. They are of the people.

“Oxford really contracts at this time of year, and it’s beautiful to see. All the students and visitors have gone and we’re just left with the people who make it what it is – who all come together in one place. It’s joyful. And once you have been here once, you’re hooked!”

And it’s not only Christmas which is taking on a reggae hue. The ‘Count’ kicks off his festive manoeuvres tonight with the latest instalment of his Hi-Lo Hi-Fi DJ set at the Hi-Lo Jamaican Eating House, and goes on to host his own ska-tastic New Year’s Eve party across town at The Cellar.

“It’s 10 years since I rolled up in Oxford, and despite countless gigs, I’ve never done a New Year’s Eve party beyond my own four walls,” he says.

But, be warned, the bass may be heavy, but all may not be as it seems.

For a start, they’re calling it The Hogmanay Honky-Tonk, which only hints at the spagetti-Western Isle ska madness in store.

“We couldn’t decide to go Wild West or Scottish,” Aidan explains. “So we decided to go ‘Wild West Lothian’ and get the best of both worlds. So there’ll be American, Confederate and St Andrew’s flags – and I’ll be wearing a sombrero and a kilt!”

Providing live sounds will be Hipbone Slim & The Knee Tremblers and honky-tonk pianist Ticklin’ Bob McIvories.

Aidan, meanwhile, will be joined on the tartan decks by Djing partner in crime ‘Laird’ Indecision – a bona fide Scot. “He’ll also be wearing a kilt,” says Aidan, “But being a real Scot he’s a bit of a pasty lad. I, however, have a great pair of legs – hairy, manly and deceptively muscular. There’s real steel there!”

Which is just as well, as the night will be followed by the city’s first dawn Highland games, out in Cornmarket – complete with caber tossing.Which should give the drunks and pigeons a fright.

A Reggae Christmas runs from 9pm on Christmas Eve to 2am. Tickets are £8 in advance from ticketweb.co.uk The New Year’s Eve Honky-Tonk Hogmanay runs from 9pm to 5am at The Cellar, off Cornmarket. Tickets are a tenner from wegottickets.com The Hi-Lo Hi-Fi takes place at the Hi-Lo Jamaican Eating House, Cowley Road, tonight. Entry is free, and it goes on as long as owner Andy ‘Hi-Lo’ Anderson wants it to

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