Beautiful music marks slow start to 'Live on the Waterfront'

Noel Thompson, Gleaner Writer

WESTERN BUREAU:

IF YOU were somewhere in the distance, but within the periphery of the Pier One complex Saturday night, you could have been easily fooled that reggae icon Maxi Priest was onstage.

But, fooled you would have been, because the melodious vocals of the medical practitioner and singer, Medikal, could easily have been mistaken for the icon, as he covered Best of Me and Sea of Love. His rendition of Dennis Brown's Should I was also very good.

The only regret Medikal may have registered was that his performance was only captured by a handful of people.

Similar observations could be made of the lyrically conscious Iyah-Blaze who, among other things, preached the commandments of true Rastafarianism, earning him a brief callback.

Later, a single backup vocalist waited patiently onstage as Hezron pitched a few high notes while he made his way to the stage singing I'm So In Love With You and Forever and Always. Hezron, however, needed more fire.

Tagged 'Live on the Waterfront', the event was put on by Jason Russell, Dwight Crawford and Charlie Chaplin.

The crowd was small and Russell admitted he was disappointed with the turnout, but it would not deter his team from making Live an annual event.

At 12:30 a.m., General Trees woke up the tiny gathering as he kicked off an energetic, yet comical performance with Gimmi Di Dance Hall Vibes and More Fire, which earned him full audience participation.

Dance Wid Mi Woman Again was riddled with comical innuendo, and others were no different. So good was Trees' performance that it forced MC Richie B to break the rules and adhere to calls for an encore.

Gone A Negril, which catapulted Trees to fame in the 1980s, was the thirst quencher.

It was from one stalwart to another - Charlie Chaplin was undaunted by the low turnout. "Everything happen for a reason," Chaplin said.

Singing under the inspiration of Rastafari, Chaplin vowed he could never use his God-gifted voice to sing lewd lyrics. "I prefer to praise the almighty."

The Colonel Jose Wales bounced onstage begging Rasta to send him a sexy girl.

Sweet Jamaica was just one of the numbers which found favour with the audience.

The old-school segment could not be complete without the dapperly attired Brigadier Jerry. His musical package included It Have Fi Bun, In The Ghetto and Jamaica, interspersed with a few gospel numbers.

Spanner Banner's renditions of Life Goes On, What We Need Is Love, and Baby Come Chill With Me, found favour with the crowd.

An hour later, Professor Nuts had his turn to display his usual comical traits - a fitting complement to Trees' earlier stint.

They paved the stage for the big guns like Etana, Queen Ifrica, Tony Rebel and Tarrus Riley.

Etana covered Jimmy Cliff's Harder They Come before singing Never Let Them Get I Down, Warrior and the popular Roots, Jah Jah Blessing, I Am Not Afraid, among others.

With the new single I Can't Recall to his credit, Tony Rebel was rocking in the wee hours of the morning with some of his hit songs. But his latest release was what the people were hungry for, and Rebel fed them with it after singing a medley of love verses for Trudy-Ann Riley, followed by an excellent rendition of Al Green's Let's Stay Together.

Queen Ifrica was welcoming people to Montego Bay just before 5 a.m. Bleaching, Are You Ready and Below the Waist connected well with the females in particular.

Following her sterling performance, Ifrica was indeed the queen of the night.

Tarrus Riley brought the curtains down on a solid note, and patrons stayed to the very end, singing songs like Far Away, Why, the lover's rock I Will Stay With You, She's Royal and Good Girl Gone Bad, to name a few.