Beenie Man and one of his young protégés onstage.
Like moths to a flame, patrons walked, ran and gathered by the stage as soon as reggae crooner Beres Hammond and later the energetic Beenie Man performed at Rocksteady Meets Reggae and Dancehall at the Jamalco Sports Club in Clarendon on Saturday night.
Hammond electrified with an arsenal of hit songs that had everyone singing along, wooing the audience with Double Trouble, Step Aside, Putting Up A Resistance and others. Throughout his 30-minute set, the 'forwards' continued and grew with I'm Gonna Do My Best, minus Buju Banton. Hammond, however, thrilled by jumping up and down onstage deejaying Banton's verse.
Hours later, it was Beenie Man who caused a similar reaction as the 'Doctor' came out with a tried and true set that never fails to evoke a response. Going from old school hits to newer songs, Beenie didn't hit any wrong notes as the crowd went crazy to his rendition of Vybz Kartel's Dollar Sign, deejaying "not even Angel can talk sey she own me".
Outside of the two, rocksteady and reggae stalwarts gave the most responsive performances for the night, showing that that generation could still hold a crowd captive despite intermittent showers throughout the night.
Although it was a highly anticipated and well-advertised event, the crowd support was less than expected as there were acres of empty space at the venue.
Drawbacks
Never one to disappoint, Beres Hammond sang most of his hits at Rocksteady Meets Reggae and Dancehall at the Jamalco Sports Club on Saturday night. - photos by Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer
One of the few drawbacks to the show was the disorganised stage line-up, as in the midst of the reggae segment, a band change from Lloyd Parkes and We The People Band to dancehall outfit Ruff Kutt was announced at about 2:30 a.m. It was said that Ruff Kutt had a flight to catch at 6:30 a.m. This led to rushed, albeit some of them good performances by the dancehall acts who had rehearsed with Ruff Kutt.
Earlier in the night, U Roy woke up and told the people, while Bongo Herman showed that he was 'ready to rocksteady'. Ernie Smith's smooth voice stood out as he lamented the 'tears on his pillow'. John Holt and Marcia Griffiths also mesmerised before the dancehall segment began.
Young acts Laden and Chino got decent responses, giving the first taste of real dancehall for the night, while acts such as Anthony B, Macka Diamond, Wayne Marshall and Wickerman and Barkey briefly got a piece of the action.
Tarrus Riley followed the dancehall segment holding the crowd's attention during heavy showers with Gregory Issacs following and promoter Freddie McGregor closing with Big Ship Sailing just after 5 a.m.
Left: Tarrus Riley in his element. Right: Freddie McGregor closed the show just after 5 a.m.