WESTERN BUREAU:
BEENIE MAN did not spend long on stage in his first Post-Grammy Montego Bay appearance. But the sizeable audience which attended 'Aquafest 2001' at Pier 1 on Saturday night enjoyed every second of Ras Moses' performance, as he was introduced during Baby Cham's crowd-pleasing stint.
Combined, the three headliners Beenie Man, Red Rat and Baby Cham performed for one hour. And the number of expletives used on stage would average about one every minute.
Pandemonium broke out when Beenie Man made his unexpected appearance after Baby Cham had done Que Se Ra. Dressed in full black, Beenie Man launched into "testing, testing one two three..." and the crowd went wild.
He had strong words for Merciless, who has claimed victory over Beenie Man, Ninja Man and Bounty Killer at Sting 2000, sending an ominous warning in a graphic description of the Ol Gallis sexual preferences:
"Dem a war fi one night,
My war continuous."
The overcoat soon came off, as did Baby Cham's beige jacket and the two proceeded to alternate lyrics and dance in the wee hours of Sunday morning, Pier 1 erupting in screams, shouts of approval and lighter flashes with each new lyric and dance move.
A high point was Baby Cham doing the National Anthem on The Bug rhythm and Beenie Man coming back with Haters and Fools. For Baby Cham's Man and Man Beenie Man had Straight Prison. After Ras Moses told a story about an encounter with the police, Baby Cham tore the place apart with a piece of Babylon Bwoy and the two left.
Earlier, Baby Cham had "bussed de dance" from off-stage and run through Many Many and P......y Holiday, among many others, before introducing Beenie Man. Dressed in beige suit with white undershirt and newspaper wrapped up in his back pocket, the lanky performer demanded: "Whe oonu come fi see, man stan up an deejay or man fi perform? A performance a dweet, don't?" As the crowd agreed enthusiastically, he proceeded to dance and interact with them.
Red Rat spent half-hour on stage, coming on with I'm A Big Kid Now. He went through a 'do you remember' segment, including Shelly-Ann and Charlene (Have Pretty Cyar Eyes); a 'mix-up and blender' segment for the woman which had them screaming, a bad man offering and closed with Street Side (A We Base). The five-man harmony group Voicemail provided the harmony.
At one point he declared: "I feel slack tonight. Any children in de house. A whe de b...t!"
Stone Love and Pieces sound systems kept the crowd moving, while the Ruff Cut band backed all the performers.
Melville Cooke
