Valentine’s Day just got better with a one-two punch from SOJA and HIRIE
Looking for a memorable, untraditional Valentine’s Day experience?
Look no further than the Vilar Performing Arts Center, hosting Fall the Grammy award winning reggae band SOJA! This group made history in 2022 as the first American Reggae-Rock group to win a Grammy for “Beauty of Silence” (2021).
Reggae as a genre has a massive global following, drawing many thousands of people to live concerts worldwide with new reggae music playing regularly on mainstream radio stations. SOJA has risen to become one of the great bands in the next generation of reggae, inspired by world music, jam, rock, funk and hip hop to develop an original sound while pushing the genre forward.
SOJA, which stands for “Soldiers of Jah Army,” is based in Arlington, Virginia. The eight-member band formed in 1997. For nearly a quarter century, SOJA has thrilled audiences across the globe with its take on roots reggae, a sound born from their shared passion for making music that transports and inspires.
On 2021’s “Beauty in the Silence” the two-time Grammy Award-nominated band deepened that communal spirit by collaborating with artists from all over the reggae world, including the likes of UB40, Slightly Stoopid, Stick Figure, and Rebelution.
What’s more, California-based HIRIE, with its reggae pop, is set to open the show.
Hirie, the band’s frontwoman who took the band’s name as her own, considers herself a global citizen thanks to her father’s job with the United Nations. She was born in the Philippines, spent years in Italy and finally settled in Hawaii, where she fell in love with reggae. Irie, a popular reggae term, is a warm greeting as well as a positive mindset. Add an “H” (for Hawaii) and you have HIRIE, a seven-piece band hailing from San Diego, Calif., that offers an uplifting message to music lovers.
“Hirie is a lifestyle choice, it’s about healing the body, the mind, and the spirit,” Hirie shares. “Our fans and our band are always saying ‘let’s get HIRIE!’ It’s a way to detach from the painful complexities of the world, and bask in joyous energy.”
“Hosting another acclaimed Reggae artist is long overdue on the VPAC stage,” says Cameron Morgan, VPAC Executive Director. “It’s been since 2019 we enjoyed Stephen Marley and Toots & The Maytals. What better way to bring this sound back into our room than a huge night with two incredible Reggae bands: HIRIE & SOJA.”
Grab tickets at vilarpac.org!