Five months after their stellar performance at Knust in Hamburg, Germany during their winter tour of Europe last year, The Jolly Boys will return to Hamburg tomorrow (May 3, 2011) to show their fans what they’ve been up to lately. Jamaica’s modern mento ambassadors kicked off their adventure as the opening act for R&B songbird Sade in fine style on Friday April 29, 2011 at Palais Nikaia in Nice, France.



(Photo by Charl Baker)

They followed it up with an equally energetic show at Sportpaleis in Antwerp, Belgium on Sunday May 1, 2011 and are eagerly anticipating tomorrow’s performance at the Color Line Arena! Now, as they prepare to take the stage in Hamburg once more we look back at what their last visit was like with this fan-posted footage of The Jolly Boys performing (among other hits) their renditions of Lou Reed’s “Perfect Day” and Iggy Pop’s “The Passenger”:
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On December 5, 2010 The Jolly Boys rocked the house at Brotfabrik in Frankfurt, Germany. Now that their time in Germany has come to an end we’d like to show you a bit of what that performance (and the moments leading up to it) was like. First, here’s a snippet of The Jolly Boys performing their cover of The Rolling Stones’ “You can’t always get what you want” at the event:


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The Masters of Mento,The Jolly Boys continue to heat things up in Europe. Following an exuberant performance at La Maroquinerie in Paris, France on Monday The Jolly Boys traveled through snow and ice (even experiencing a minor accident on the Autobahn along the way) to make it back to Germany where they’re currently gearing up for their final German performance of this tour tonight at Knust in Hamburg.



The Jolly Boys were also in Hamburg during their tour of Europe this summer. Now, as they prepare to take the stage in Hamburg once more, we look back at what that visit was like:
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The Jolly Boys felt the love in the city of romance yesterday as the crowd swayed to their cool mento rhythms as they headlined their Paris premiere at La Maroquinerie . The septuagenarian ‘Boys’ lived up to their name and showed they could still give an impressive performance.



In case you missed it all you can see photos of The Jolly Boys at La Maroquinerie here! As a bonus, here’s a bit of what it was like to hear The Jolly Boys cover The Stranglers’ “Golden Brown” live at La Maroquinerie in Paris:
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Jamaica’s mento sensations The Jolly Boys are still on the move. Now fully into the groove of their European tour they’ve been busy spreading their island sunshine across snowy Germany. After getting the ball rolling with an electrifying performance at Club Ampere in Munich on Thursday and an interview with Radio Eins in Berlin on Friday, The Jolly Boys were more than ready to bring the heat at Frannz Club in Berlin yesterday.



Watch The Jolly Boys get warmed up for their show at Frannz Club in Berlin on Saturday December 4, 2010 with their cover of New Order’s “Blue Monday”:

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The Jolly Boys tour of Europe is now in full swing. After a stellar opening performance at Club Ampere in Munich on Thursday ‘the boys’ spent yesterday doing interviews and appearances in preparation for today’s show at Frannz Club in Berlin! The Jolly Boys have been to Berlin before, in the summer of 2010, though things were a little different then as far as the weather goes. Yet Berlin is still Berlin and The Jolly Boys are as excited as ever to be there. Here’s a bit of what Berlin in the summer was like for lead singer of The Jolly Boys, Albert Minott:



Though the weather may have been different then, their last trip to Berlin was slightly similar to their current expedition. In the sense that it involved trips to radio stations and exclusive interviews with The Jolly Boys. Yesterday Albert Minott recorded an informative interview at Radio Eins in Berlin.
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After a journey that involved being snowed in at London Heathrow Airport The Jolly Boys arrived in Germany in fine style and high spirits eager to perform for the fans who had come out in large numbers to see them at Club Ampere in Munich yesterday. We promised you all we’d be covering them every step of the way, so for those who may have missed it, here’s a taste of The Jolly Boys performing their cover of Iggy Pop’s “The Passenger” at Club Ampere in Munich, Germany!



As a bonus, here are some photos of The Jolly Boys on their journey to Germany:

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The Jolly Boys are now officially on the road again! Today marks the start of their European tour and their first stop is Ampere Munich, Germany! Having performed for a German audience before The Jolly Boys now have a blossoming relationship with this part of Europe and are excited to be starting things off there. When German fans last saw ‘the boys’ they were performing for a roaring crowd at the biggest 3-day reggae festival in Europe; Cheimsee Reggae Summer 2010. The event, which featured a three day line up of a mixture of artists from around the globe but mostly from Germany and Jamaica saw The Jolly Boys in energetic action. In case you may have missed that performance you can see it now:



Then go behind the scenes with this Reggaeville interview with The Jolly Boys at Cheimsee Reggae Summer. Albert talks about the temporary silence of mento, the myriad of genres influenced by it and the birth of modern mento. Remembering the days when (while working as a fire dancer) he could only dream of playing music and the day he finally got to play with The Jolly Boys. He also gives us advice on staying ‘young’, fit and focused on the road and a mysterious drink called “Poor man’s friend”.

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The Jolly Boys are merely days away from embarking on their first full European tour (which kicks off on December 2nd), a great adventure for these hardy Jamaican septuagenarians. As a special treat we’ve decided to post the spanking new video for their cover of Iggy Pop’s ‘The Passenger’ right here for you to see!

The video for ‘The Passenger’ by The Jolly Boys, takes the form of a filmic documentaryesque journey with lead singer Albert Minott captured on The Jolly Boys tours earlier this year. It is particularly interesting that the 72 year old Jamaican had never been over the Atlantic in his life, his observations on life in a Europe that he had only ever seen in movies and on TV was an insight. We will be seeing the full documentary of this later in the year.

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