No-Maddz, masterful

Dub Poetry, as defined by Sheldon Shepherd of the performing quartet No-Maddz, is the fusion of music and poetry.

Using their own definition, the group's Christmas show, 'The Trod Live', was an apt demonstration of their mixture of several genres of music with the spoken word.

In addition to apt, the concert at one of St Andrew's most famous and celebrated places, the Bob Marley Museum, on December 26, was lively, current and sexually charged at times.

The quartet, which has seen its star rise further this year after their publicity windfall through their collaboration with sports clothing manufacturer PUMA, held their mid-size gathering in rapt attention throughout their set.

With a larger crowd than last year's staging, it appears No-Maddz has benefited from the exposure of their affair with Puma.

However, it was clear from the response of the crowd to their pieces that they had not lost their 'underground' appeal, despite the commercial splash.

Backed by their band Diehaaadhaaad, No-Maddz, with one encore, performed for more than three hours, doing their songs in full length with the occasional 'pull up' punctuating the set.

Their musical range was on full show with reggae, dancehall, gospel, dub and jazz utilised to bring across their messages.

No-Maddz touched on topics of alleged extra-judicial killings, the joys, or lack thereof, of working a 9-5 or in Shepherd's case, an 8-4 job, nature and its unorthodox display in humans, politics, religion and lovemaking.

In the song Trouble De Ya, No-Maddz focused on the uncertainty that surrounds an extra-judicial killing with the "citizen said, the government said" scenario which fills Jamaican newscasts almost every day, captured in the phrase "at least a so dem say".

The song focuses much on the delivery of the fateful news to the mother of the deceased with the chant of "ban you belly miss, me have a terrible piece of news and it concerns you".

Chants and repetition is a feature of the No-Maddz experience. The chants are melodic and piercing, and it is often layered with the smooth vocals of O'Neil Peart.

In their songs dedicated to women, this worked well. The women in the audience lapped this up in the song Ginger, screaming through lyrics such as "I can't stop kissing her ... she can't keep her hands off me".

In Lions Playing In The Prairie, No-Maddz praise their "beautiful and lovely" lioness in one breath, yet cautioning lions when they go playing in the prairie against women who engage in "wholeselling".

In between the chanting and singing, the group kept the energy high, with their freestyle dancing feeding the crowd.

No-Maddz also did a few tracks on their new EP, Sort Out Yuh Life, Jamaica.

The title track was done with the 50th anniversary of Jamaica's independence in mind. The group encouraged Jamaica to enhance their potential, "We are the light of Jamaica, out of many one heart," they said.

After their kinetic performance, another one of Jamaica's rising bands, C-Sharp, took the stage, kicking off their set with the popular Don't Come Searching and doing a number of covers, including a powerful Book of Rules from the Heptones.