Richie Stephens (left) and Jeffrey Osborne perform On The Wings of Love at Take Me Away on Sunday night at the Cable and Wireless Golf Academy.
Members of the large audience at the Cable and Wireless (C&W) Golf Academy, New Kingston, stood three times without being asked and it was a good indication of how the fifth annual Jamaica National Take Me Away developed on Sunday night.
In the relatively early going, quite a few persons stood in appreciation after Gem Myers, glittering in gold, playfully patted her hair and arranged her bodice before ending a superb rendition of And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going, complete with vocal pyrotechnics that went high and long. After intermission, when Gregory Isaacs slow-motion walked onstage to Night Nurse, completing a rocksteady triumvirate started by Leroy Sibbles (Sea of Love) and Ken Boothe (Puppet on a String), most of those still sitting surged to their feet and all stayed there until the rocksteady roundrobin had ended.
And at the very end, after a clear-voiced Jeffrey Osborne with commanding stage presence had 'wu-wu-wued' through an audience that held on to his every melodious note in a near 45-minute showing, then combined with Stephens for a so-so version of On The Wings of Love, a group reggae rendition of Osborne's Greatest Love Affair was an absolutely horrible closing choice. Members of the audience turned their backs on Stephens, LUST, Osborne and an unbilled Frankie Paul (who had earlier been plucked from the audience near the stage for a cameo) and departed in droves as they worked their way through the substandard group finale just past midnight.
Multiple appearances
CVM CEO David McBean (right) tries to hold a note with Jeffrey Osborne looking on.
Not that the sitting in between spontaneous standing moments indicated dissatisfaction, as the audience certainly enjoyed Stephens' multiple appearances (four outfit changes in all) as well as LUST's brokenhearted melodies and reggae remake of Just As I Am. And they went all the way from the start with a so smooth Osborne, working without his personal band for the sake of the show's charitable purpose, through the LTD era with Shine on Again, happily looking In Your Eyes.
It didn't hurt that when Osborne took off his jacket, 'Jamaica' was written on his black muscle shirt.
But some of what should have been really big moments were far, far less than what they could, and should, have been because they were talked up instead of being allowed to flow naturally and let the crowd make it a big moment, including Stephens singing the concert's title song just before the break.
And while the idea of having the six singers of Secret Garden, including Stephens and LUST, open doors and appear individually from behind simulated garden settings was a very good idea, its impact was severely diminished by the long wait that Owen 'Blakka' Ellis' hilarious cameo did not quite cover. And it did not help that the MC let the audience know that he was waiting on all to be set up, though when the sextet went on bended knee at the end the applause was deserved.
There were hoots for Ellis' comment that while people had been coming to Take Me Away for five years, "a young man last week go pon a plane an say 'take me away' and him famous". And he interpreted the concert's theme to say "any man can stand up for a sister, it takes a real man to stand up with a sister in empathy and solidarity".
Artistically, the real low point of the night came during Stephens' first stint onstage when, after moving the ladies especially with Trying To Get To You and For You, there was shameless advertising with him delivering the Mitsubishi ad, although the VIPs notably sang happily along.
The ladies were asked to scream ad nauseum (happily complying on most occasions), making Take Me Away seem like a mass audition for a B Grade movie at times.
Early performers Tony Greene and Stevie Face blew and sang, respectively, while quite a few persons were still getting into the venue, as despite sterling traffic control efforts, the C&W Golf Academy's specified parking is not the easiest place to access by motor vehicle on high-volume traffic occasions.
The Masterpiece Band was in excellent form, the sound and stage fit for the big occasion, the camera work for the big screens (very necessary, as the regular seating extended far back) in the venue excellent, François and Ron Muschette doing a decent hosting job, Colin Hines dropping party music in the break and Take Me Away prompt in starting and closing at a decent hour.
It was a mixed bag, quality evident but execution-deflating moments that could, and should, have truly taken the large audience away.
The music connects with this patron.
Left: Leroy Sibbles was looking dapper. Right: One of four suits Richie Stephens donned on the night. - PHOTOS BY Colin Hamilton