Having listened to Kiwi reggae heavyweights House Of Shem (who we saw at last year’s Island Vibe) from afar, we encounter some perilously disorganised and blasé treatment from the ticket office people, which leads us to miss the entirety of Jamaican pop star Sean Kingston as we stand and wait to be admitted. It’s not a major loss, though, as the rotund partyman’s set is curtailed by sound problems; forward another 30 minutes and the punky reggae party commences in earnest as Birmingham, UK’s veterans Steel Pulse take to the stage.

Augmented by searing (much like the afternoon sun) horns, the legendary combo pump out one bass-heavy riddim after another, prime rockers like Dread Squad, Catch Me If You Can and Open Sesame making the crowd swing and sway. By the time natty-dread frontman David Hinds yells out a hearty “Jah love, Jah bless!” and the Steinberger-wielding lead guitarist goes off on a very Eddie Van Halen-like tapping solo segueing into a thunderous rock coda, we know we’ve seen some top-grade roots rock reggae.

Seasoned festival regulars, locals Blue King Brown go about their “conscious roots” business as expected. A multi-limbed drum solo kicks off the funk/ragga/dancehall-inflected performance and from then on, it’s a gradually increasing dance frenzy – a fiery rhumba workout is a treat, however I can’t help but note that the band truly shine on brief covers of Bob Marley’s Is This Love? and The Police’s Roxanne (one of BKB’s backing singers completely stealing the show) rather than their own tunes. Sporting more blue eyeshadow than an ‘80s soap star, the ever-energetic singer Natalie Pa'apa'a takes time to acknowledge the traditional owners of this land, past and present – something I don’t personally have a problem with – but then loses me with an extended sermon about “conscious youth” and activism. A Billy Jean sample, the opening lick from Acca Dacca’s immortal Thunderstruck and a closing cameo by House Of Shem’s vocal trio round off the solid, if unnecessarily politically charged performance.

Just as BKB finish, the weather takes a turn for the wet, the sun disappearing behind the menacing-looking clouds and the air temperature automatically dropping by a good 15 degrees in a time-honoured Melbourne fashion. This, however, does not seem to affect the collective celebratory mood in the slightest as the Jamaican vibe and the pot fug keep hanging thick. The covered space now being chock-full, a deafening ovation greets Julian Marley, who instantly makes it very clear he’s here to have fun. A spitting image of his father in a denim pair and flailing his mile-long dreadlocks, the light-skinned progeny spreads out Positive Vibration like nobody’s business, giving half-brother Ziggy (who closed last year’s Raggamuffin) a run for his money with his gravity-defying dance moves and impassioned vocal delivery. Newie On The Floor explodes like a bomb, Julian’s backing band firing on all cylinders and revving up further by the time he again summons Bob’s spirit on Riches Of The World and an euphoric Exodus. A worthy contender for the Rasta crown? Ya mon!

With nearly four decades of beautiful music behind their shoulders, Kingston, Jamaica’s riddim extraordinaires Sly Dunbar & Robbie Shakespeare are perhaps the main reason I’m here today – and deliver with gusto, even though one could assume they’re slightly under-rehearsed. Deadset characters just like their accompanying musicians – who memorably include the Santa-styled keyboard player Morpheus-resembling guitarist, the skins-and-four-string wizards cook up a dense reggae and dub stew, overcoming earlier sound issues and saving their show from turning into a beautiful disaster like the consummate professionals they are. A pumped-up guest MC takes over the vocal duties during the medley-heavy second half of the set, the crowd going apeshit to reggae standards like You’re No Good, Revolution and Life Without Music; a snippet from Mambo Italiano proves to be an entertaining, if somewhat incongruous, inclusion and the concluding bass-solo finale (which sees the “I’m not leaving just yet!”-defiant Robbie being assisted by Sly, who – literally – hammers out the rhythm on the former’s strings with his magical drumsticks). Utterly unforgettable – bring on the original-lineup Compass Point Sessions tour with Grace Jones, please!

The rain clears just as unexpectedly as it has started and we rush back into the seating area following a brief dinner break. Raggamuffin 2010’s biggest draw in the absence of Wyclef Jean, soul/R&B/hip hop diva Lauryn Hill takes her time to come onstage, instead letting her crack backing band entertain the increasingly impatient audience with a mishmash of pop-reggae standards – but when she appears among a hurricane of eardrum-obliterating whoops and turns into an electrical-storm-on-legs through the furiously-paced opener Lost Ones, we’ve well and truly forgiven her. Looking resplendent in a ‘70s-inspired outfit and holding perfect balance on her towering high heels, the pint-sized Ms Hill sings like a Motown legend, raps like nobody’s business, prompts massed “ready or not, here I come, you can’t hide – gonna find you and take it slowly” chants with The Fugees classic Ready Or Not, duets with Julian Marley on Bob’s lilting Turn Your Lights Down Low and once again sends the place into spasms with the closing signature cut Doo Wop (That Thing). As Austin Powers used to say, groovy baby!

Great entertainment value as always, Shaggy rounds off the festival on an elated note. Kicking off with a super-cheesy 21st Century Fox intro just like the last time around, the deep-voiced Mr Lova Lova ignites the Music Bowl with Boombastic, Oh Carolina and Angel (aka his three big hits), wisecracking and humping the air much to everyone’s delight. The evergreen In The Summertime and It Wasn’t Me give way to much more risqué oeuvre such as Hey Sexy Lady and Moist & Wet, but we’re loving every single second of it. The crowd doing Mexican waves and stomping in abandon along to the ragga/dancehall beats the piece de resistance arrives in the shape of Sly & Robbie joining the lothario on a medley of his earlier tracks (which the legendary producers helmed) and the Raggamuffin All-Stars-featuring coda (minus the “I’m a bigger star” Lauryn Hill) of Beat The Rush.

And thus ends the alternately sun-scorched/rain-soaked day of fantastic fun, great vibes and life-affirming music. Irie!

Photos by Kendall Salzman - Click here to view the full photo gallery!