Chalice blends to perfection

Band mixes the old with the new to please appreciative crowd

Mel Cooke, Gleaner Writer

On Friday night Chalice band tackled the age-old conundrum of many a pop unit which has had an extended break in recording - working in material from their November 2010 album Let it Play with established favourites.

The very popular reggae band had a substantial but not jam-packed audience at the Redbones Blues Café, New Kingston, which could have been attributable in part to the Bacchanal series at Mas Camp, hosting another live performance night in its Friday party series.

The 31-year-old Chalice dealt with the disconnect in familiarity between their well-known music recorded in the 1980s and early 1990s and their latest album by interweaving the new songs with the older - with a decided bent towards the latter in their second and final set - closing off just past midnight with the Let it Play title track.

They also employed their renowned showmanship to very good effect, making for an excellent concert in which there was a genuine encore after I'm Trying.

They did have Still Love You among the hits in reserve, but one got the impression that if the audience had not really whooped their unprompted demand for the seven musicians to return they would not have stayed off stage.

Chalice had two covers in their first segment, Jimmy Cliff's Trapped and Bob Marley and the Wailers' Rebel Music, which brought up the break (and on which Chalice's harmonies for the opening wail could do with some work).

But there was also the love song Candle Burning from the latest album, guitarist Wayne Armond's instrument accidentally unplugged during the song and put back into action in short order - initially too loudly, but the levels were quickly reset.

Then it was back to the classics with A Song, the uptempo song designed to make "the whole world sing" along with lead singer Dean Stephens, getting the members of the audience do just that - and clap as well, at the urging of Armond.

On Rebel Music Armond slipped into the character of a police officer from the 'Trafalgar Road Station', demanding that the music stop as it was 2 o'clock. Plus, he said, there were some people in the dance who seemed "really suspect". But the rest of the band replied with music, Keith Francis grinning as he pointed the bass guitar at the 'officer', who conceded "I guess sometimes music is so nice that we will let it go on".

A delicate keyboard phrase heralded Chalice's return to the bandstand after the obligatory break, the phrase in turn introducing one of Chalice's heaviest rockers, Praise Him and the band was off to a flying start in a revved up second segment. The remake of Caravan of Love rocked the audience in the musical carriages.

But it was the pair of Revival Time and Pocomania Day which brought all to their feet and Stephens out into the audience, lifting hands in praises. On the latter, as the band did the 'pull up' Armond demanded "me waan see oonu pon oonu foot! Yu can siddung when this music a play? Pon yu foot!" And those who had remained stubbornly chairbound surged to their feet.

dancehallmonic orchestra

And then it was into the 'dancehallmonic orchestra', Armond conducting and Stephens doing take-offs of Capleton (hat backwards and leaping), Tiger (bald pate glistening) and Vybz Kartel to the audience's delight.

They dropped the rockers of I'm Trying, Stephens paying his respects to former member Trevor Roper. And Armond paid respects to some of the newer bands, saying "after Chalice, Third World, Mystic Revealers, Bloodfire Posse, there was no one". But now, he said, there are bands like Blu Grass in the Sky, Rootz Underground, C-Sharp and Raging Fyah.

Then came the goodbye, packing up, departure, protests and return, Armond coming back on stage alone at first. "I going do a little tune by meself. If the band want to come in ...," he said. They did, for the ballad Still Love You, Armond shedding a pretend tear in the later stages of the song and Stephens resting a comforting hand on his shoulder.

Fae Ellington informed all that Armond wrote Still Love You and he said he was going to do another song he had written, "inspired by my beautiful wife". The lyrics contained the promise to "sing you a love song to take you through the night" and the band closed the night with a song about the music they would like to hear play eternally, singing "let Jah music play, play on forever".

Armond took time to introduce the band, with three relative youngsters joining four long-standing members, and the two-man road crew.