Vegas and Elephant ManBy Andrew Clunis,
Freelance Writer
IN DESPERATE bids to elicit 'forwards' at the 'Sting 2000' show Tuesday night, the stage dialogue was reduced to statements about 'b--y' boys, lesbians, gun play, female bashing and male bashing and a cannibalistic infighting among the DJs.
And the mass of the people identified with what was coming from the stage, with the women seemingly oblivious to particular insults as they obeyed the often ridiculous commands coming from the performers.
The 17th anniversary staging of the show was everything it promised to be red hot and more.
It was a night when dancehall's top brass were driven to deliver their best performances, a signal of the strength they intend to take over into the new year.
A combative clash between Merciless and Ninjaman and which eventually included Bounty Killer and Beenie Man brought the curtains down on the event.
Patrons who waited until almost 7:00 a.m. Wednesday for the clash would have appreciated the morning's revelations which was entertaining. Merciless fans would have been ecstatic and the neutral would have been thrilled to see the underdog rip the favourites the threads.
But there were a lot of good performances, some disappointments and some embarrassments.
Mr. Lexx stole the spotlight for a spell, making a grand entry to the stage. He was hoisted by a crane adjacent to the stage and swung over in a bucket of sparkling lights. The MC announced his arrival and everyone looked to the stage, but the "jigger man" was swinging above the audience, microphone in hand using his familiar slangs.
When he eventually hit the stage he went through a routine which involved 'pom pom' dancers and marching band music. His management team must be commended for their efforts to bring some diversity to the presentation.
Certainly, his was the most creative act of the night.
Alozade, who stamped his authority on the show pulled a toy gun as he declared war against homosexuals. This brought the crowd to greater heights during a hit-filled set by the young artiste appearing during Sting's startime for the first time.
Controversy
Alozade's performance was particularly welcomed, because a fizzled act by Cecile preceded his. His stablemates Hawkeye and Vegas did well. Hawkeye delivered powerfully. Vegas got himself embroiled in controversy taking shots at several fellow artistes, each of whom at their turn decided to "give it to him".
Bling Dawg, whom Vegas declared had mange, kept his composure and delivered an authoritative set which proved to fans that he is of high pedigree. He took several encores and made a bold statement of what fans may expect from him come January and the rest of the new year.
Elephant Man was fiery. In striking red and white, the energetic DJ launched a string of hits which he enhanced with his usual stage antics.
He was really pumped up and his must be declared one of the big performances of the night. He invited Nitty Kutchie and Bounty Killer on stage. Killer's arrival had the crowd erupting as he was not billed for Sting.
In fact, he and the promoter Isaiah Laing have been at odds for several years. At one point during the night he and Laing had a confrontation backstage during which he was draped by the former policeman and his bodyguard had to be brought into action.
Bounty Killer declared during his first appearance "me nuh ready fe work yet. Me haffi come defend me daddy (Ninjaman) likkle more." He responded to Vegas' suggestion that he should have been billed for Sting, admonishing him for including a Bob Marley song in his set which had 'fallen down'.
The show took on a different flavour from there on. Raised fists crossed in an x signalled the arrival of quadruple platinum selling rapper DMX. He performed a long set, but his professionalism did wonders to balance Sting. He started and ended his performance with a prayer. But profanity came in between.
Still, DMX rocked what was a hardcore dancehall audience during a long set. He seemed right at home in Jamaica.
His opening act Drag On tried hard and found some success. His efforts to connect with the audience by using Jamaican slangs were not as potent as they could have been, had he been advised that words like 'shotta' and 'skettel' would have been more compatible with that crowd.
Beenie Man was the penultimate act of the night. It seemed the park was loaded with his fans and 'The Doctor' set to work on them. He was in dancehall heaven and with Ruff Kutt band in immaculate form, the DJ set about rounding out what has been his best year in music to-date.
He set aside some of his more classy numbers and went deep dancehall to satisfy the discernments of his Sting fans. Beenie Man introduced world heavyweight boxing champion Lennox Lewis to the stage. His young sidekick Kitty Paw was awesome, with new lyrics and greater confidence.
Anthony B appeared with Beenie Man for a spell and was well received. Beenie Man re-introduced Gringo, who had a major task of redeeming himself.
Earlier he had been involved in an embarrassing imbroglio on stage with Vibes Cartel, Bounty Fila and Ghandi. The clash, which was being staged between Kingston and Portmore, became unbearable as poor mannerisms of the DJs came to the fore.
They were disrespectful to the audience and to each other and what made it worse, outside of Gringo, they had no talent. It was barrage of indecent language and insults which eventually forced an end to their escapade. Gringo 'bust' the place when he returned with Beenie Man.
Earlier in the night Lady Spice went deep into the gutter and came out with her raunchiest stuff. The crowd loved her counteractions of Cecile and other artistes however. Danny English and Singer J were right on the point, wasting no time in making their presence felt.
Delly and Christopher rose to the challenge of Sting. Risto Benjie in his comeback bid got a little carried away and did not even get to perform one of his more popular songs. Captain Barky and Wickerman, two enduring artistes, were delightful as usual. They provided the early sparks offering the crowd a good round of humour.
Junior Kelly grasped his opportunity firmly while George Nooks stamped his authority as a veteran singer. Blaze band and Thugz band were competent.
True Tone provided pristine sound once gain. The MCs Richie B and Chaka Fame were good choices, but Nuffy needs to understand his role and act more as an MC than an artiste.
