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The_Emperor
New Member
USA
67 Posts |
 Posted - Aug 20 2001 : 12:34:58 AM
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As I approached the Rumsey Field in Central Park, Site of the 6th annual Jamaica Jamboree, the sound of conscious “old school” reggae filled the air, as people hurried along to join the line to secure a good spot in the venue. When I got in I soon realize that there were no bad spots and that people were hurrying to make sure they got in before the start because the gates would be closed after the start. I got in the venue at around 1:55 and after two unsuccessful rounds of searching for HL, I took a seat in the pavilion. The conscious “old school” reggae continued up until the show time.
The Master of Ceremony, Leon, got things going at approximately 3:05 when he gave a warm welcome to all Jamaicans and friends of Jamaica and acknowledge the sponsors; Jamaica Tourist Board, Air Jamaica, Tower Isles Patty, JP Morgan, Atlas Tours, D & G, Solid Agency, Reggie’s Roll, Grace Kennedy, Jamaica Hot Pot Restaurant, and SoSo Desert. Immediately afterwards he introduced the band on the stand, Lloyd Parks and We The People, who would have the place rocking for the duration of the show. They rocked the crowd until 3:15 before Leon return to call on the opening act.
The opening segment was billed the female segment and the first act on stage was Dawn Penn. Sexily clad in black she wasted no time in starting her smooth set. She reeled off a series of hits including The First Cut is the Deepest and Thank You Lord. At about 3:30 she got the crowd into a little frenzy when she touched You Don’t Love Me and proved she was in frenzy too with some good old “skyank”. That would be her closing piece as she made way for JC Lodge at about 3:35
Her set was a bit livelier than Dawn Penn’s and so too was her dressing. She entered the stage in a bright orange lap skirt and blouse to match. By this time the gate was closed with hundreds of people on the outside looking in. She immediately made an impact on the crowd and had the moves to back her songs. On 3:55 she got the biggest movement from the crowd when she touched “Someone Loves You Honey”. She wasn’t done yet; 4:00 she took off the orange blouse to reveal a red tank top and lose the long wrap skirt as she bellowed “Telephone Love”. At this point I wasn’t sure if it was the song, the skimpy red skirt she had on underneath the long skirt or the Ras that took out his cellular phone and pretended like he was making “telephone love”. Could have been a combination of all, plus her waistline movements. She finished her set at 4:05 and then introduced the members of the band.
The biggest applause came from the crowd at 4:12 when Leon said that the ladies segment wasn’t a long segment and now will be the old school segment and called Big Youth to the stage. It was my first time seeing him performing live and it certainly wont be the last. He is very energetic and has class and moves, Bounty could probably learn a couple from him. He entered with Sattamassaghana (sp) and by this time the people on the outside began to force their way closer to get as good a peek as they can from outside. He pulled a rousing applause from the crowd when he said “everyone say god bless America but I & I say I am proud to be Jamaican” and pull his shirt to reveal a black T-shirt with a Jamaican flag on the left breast. 4:32 he brought on two of his sons who rapped a tune and then turn things back over to the elder who continued to treat the crowd to a spectacular performance. He reeled off hits like Every Negro is a Star, Jim Screechy (and was actually Jim Screeching and Dilly Dallying) before he addressed the crowd and beg for unity among all people. He then made a superstar like exit around 4:45 with “Hit The Road Jack” and left the crowd wanting for more.
There was a lengthy 15-minute break during which the presence of Portia Simpson Miller was announced. On the resumption the cool cool U Roy was brought on stage. He delivered a few solo before calling on Mark Ice at 5:08 and went on as a duet for most of the duration of his set. The crowd on the outside was trying their endeavor best to get closer at this point and extra security had to be called in to ensure that there was no stampede. Together they delivered hits like I am a Rebel and Tell The World You Found Love before Mark made his exit. He delivered Jah Jah Call You solo before bringing back Ice around 5:32 to close out the set with Wear You To The Ball. They received the first encore of the evening (although the crowd seemed to have wanted more of Big Youth). They admit to have run out of songs they rehearsed with the band and did On The Beach before they departed.
At 5:40 Portia addressed the crowd amid mixed reactions. She tossed a few bammies and some Blue Mountain Coffee into the crowd and encouraged Jamaicans and tourists alike to come visit Jamaica.
At 5:45 Barrington Levy, decked out in a white track suit red baseball cap and red T-Shirt, with his very entrance tore the crowd apart and move the crowd on the outside a little closer. After delivering a revised version of “Went Away” he dispelled the media reports of unrest in Jamaica and insured us that whatever unrest was there was confined to a small area and that if you went to Jamaica to relax you would do just that and not relapse. He spewed out hits such as Too Experienced, My Woman, and Black Roses before he got the whole crowd dancing and waving to his command at 6:02. Occasionally he had them singing to his commands as well. He continued with tunes like Broadway, Unda Mi Sensi, Every Day I Love Her Just A Little Bit More, and he and the crowd chipped in for Bounty as he rounded out a stellar performance with Living Dangerously at 6:25. He came back for an encore but also didn’t rehearse a lot of tunes with the band and did whatever the crowd requested acappella. Dawn Penn and JC were ok Big Youth and U Roy were great but Mr. Levy (who is the first ever repeat artist because of his stellar performance a couple years back) was absolutely marvelous.
At the end of his encore he called back all the artists who performed earlier along with the minister of tourism and they all performed a rendition of Bob Marley’s One Love.
It was a wonderful, peaceful and successful day. A perfect day for the family, all the kids there had fun and their parent didn’t have to cover up their ears. It was just clean and sweet reggae (Jamaican music) and Jamaicans and friends of Jamaica (according to Leon) at their best. If you weren’t there you missed something.
I finally link up with HL after the show and reasoned for about 10-15 minutes, and trust me it was very refreshing. HL is a “rootical” ithren with a wealth of knowledge and commands respect. All in all a wonderful day!
Long Live Shorty!!#2
Blessed Love
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