Beres gives another memorable performance

Marcia Rowe, Gleaner Writer

It was another memorable moment for fans of Beres Hammond, on Saturday. Instead of his scheduled forty-five minutes act, the Ardenne High School parent extended his performance to approximately an hour and thirty minutes.

In the concert dubbed Beres & Friends on the Greens of Ardenne, the first part of the two-segment show saw a variety of acts from students and guest performers, while the second part was assigned to the diminutive Hammond and his band.

Hammond's performance was laced with golden oldies, some philosophical remarks and a nicely crafted satire.

Wearing a white, opened shirt over a white vest and a pair of blue jeans, the musical maestro commenced his scintillating performance with a medley of some his songs that included What Can You Do, Step Aside and his popular 1985 hit What One Dance Can Do. And, in his unique style of singing information instead of talking, he expressed that the year (1985) was a good one for him.

Hammond followed up the medley with Angel Eyes, a song that he told the audience that he "hardly performs".

In one of the few moments when he spoke rather than sang, Hammond told the audience "You are the cushions when I fall" and then launched into Tempted to Touch.

This was followed by brief stints with Tony Rebel followed by Beenie Man. In a satirical moment, Hammond and Rebel went into Jamaica's comedy minefield, the Manatt-Coke Enquiry, for a few jokes.

Poor first half

Beres continued his performance with another medley that included Double Trouble. Before concluding his act, he explained that he is all for education and, while he does not have the money, he is willing to "sing and mek people come listen." He ended his performance with No Worry What People Say.

On the other hand, the poorly structured first half saw performances from Gospel artistes, Omari and Denyque, Excellence in Music and Entertainment winner of the Best New Artiste (Female) award for 2010, sandwiched between the talented Ardenne Music Club, the Ardenne Steel Band, Maliki Drummers and members of the school choir.

The concert, which got off to a late start, was biased towards musical discipline. The only non-musical item (well, except MC, Ardenne High past student, Andrew Lawrence's announcements before each act), came in the form of a dramatic presentation from the Luke in Action Project. Titled Wheh Luke Sey, the piece examines social issues according to the group's interpretation of the gospel of St Luke. While it was realistic, it was too mature in content and language for the performing group.