Stur-Gav saves the night

Mel Cooke, Gleaner Writer

There was a point where Saturday night's tribute to Sugar Minott at Mas Camp, Oxford Road, New Kingston, seemed about to fizzle terribly.

Metromedia had taken over from King Stur-Gav, which had enjoyed a great run, with Charlie Chaplin, General Trees, Little Twitch, Daddy U-Roy and Natty Pablo in combination rousing and rocking the appreciable audience which turned out for the original dancehall session.

Metromedia, which started out with a belly-bouncing Sky Juice up front, boasting off his generation-spanning prowess as he had 'taken' Fully Loaded the previous week, sounded very different from Stur-Gav. Plus, Peter Metro's frenetic style was very different from the easy flow of the deejays who had preceded him. Junior Cat had the easy flow which kept the audience rocking, though not moving them to ecstasy.

Metromedia lacked sound presence whencompared to Stur-Gav, and Josey Wales' speech lost its effectiveness. After Josey deejayed Sweet Sweet Jamaica, a few persons at the back started calling for Stur-Gav.

Still, the audience enjoyed George Nooks, singing along to his mixture of spiritual songs (God is Standing By and How Great Thou Art) and lovers' rock (Lay Your Troubles on My Shoulder).

But when he wrapped up at 2:45 a.m., a significant number of persons headed towards the exit. Peter Metro advised all that many stars were there, "so nuh move a muscle". He brought up the promoter, Tony, explaining "him say Metromedia sound stage nah reach out deh".

So it was back over to Stur-Gav, who started out with Sanchez defending marijuana with "I don't smoke the chronic to bother no one". The sound was right, the people cheered and all the entertainers who followed worked on that sound until the 4:30 a.m. close-down time.

'Hit the spot'

In Stur-Gav's first set, Jimmy Riley claimed Love and Devotion, but it was the deejay combination which hit the spot, U-Roy rolling his 'r's as he figuratively wrapped up a draw for lawyer, doctor and commissioner. Chaplin declared "ganja haffi go a foreign" and Mas Camp agreed.

The sparks of the round were Chaplin and Trees, the latter's suit, dancing and on-spot deejaying of Bascho, Mini Van and Gone a Negril, his powerful vocals complemented by spasms of dancemoves, sending the crowd into a tizzy.

Freddie McGregor was a crowd pleaser and also a more outright good singer than the dancehall regulars, going through Push Come to Shove and Stop Loving You. But, in the dancehall setting, it was Prophecy who hit home hardest. Lincoln Minott honoured his father, crouching as he sang in an uncanny vocal imitation.

U-Roy set the pace for Stur-Gav's second round, stating "every man a mi brethren still", and Twitch rocked it.

Among those who worked in Stur-Gav's second time around were some of the bigger names for the night, who not only kept the audience inside the venue for the most part, but also kept them in the happy space between steady rocking and bursts of cheers.

One of the night's big surprises was Foxy Brown, whose remake of Tracy Chapman's Sorry on the Taxi rhythm was one of the 1980s' huge hits.

Sugar Minott's daughter Fire Pashon tossed a bag over her shoulder to imitate her father on his DC, stating that she was honouring his wishes from Saturday night, going by the name 'Pashon Minott'.

Bongo Herman paid homage to another standout who has passed on, Alton Ellis, but Bunny Wailer upped the musical ante considerably with Cool Runnings and Ballroom Floor, putting on his 'dancing shoes' as the ska song demanded to the audience's delight. But it was Ram Dancehall which took the house down.