Luciano By Eddie J. Grant,
Freelance Writer
TORONTO:
LUCIANO, ONE of Jamaica's most prolific reggae artistes returned recently to Toronto, Canada and gave two memorable performances at the Opera House Theatre.
His return was anticipated and his two engagements here will live in the memories of fans for a long time.
Toronto is just one of the cities the singer and his entourage visited while on a 46-city 'New Day' tour to promote his current CD of the same title. The tour, which began in March, is expected to end in mid-May.
From Canada the tour moved to Cleveland and Ohio. Others making the trip with Luciano are Mikey General, Junior Kelly, three female back-up vocalists the Daffodils and ace saxophonist, Dean Fraser and the Firehouse Crew the supporting band.
Mikey General has performed here before, but newcomer Junior Kelly was making his first Toronto visit and this he has achieved basically on the strength of his current and very popular single If Love So Nice.
The Toronto leg of the concert, which was promoted by Jones and Jones along with Kings of Kings Promotion, was considered successful by many.
The Saturday night event was sold out and scores of people who arrived with the intention of buying tickets at the gate, had to be turned away.
From his opening song Sweep Over My Soul, fans knew they were in for a musical treat as the audience really began to rock. He took them on a musical journey moving effortlessly from one song to another.
Some of them were taken from his previous CDs, while others were from the current one A New Day done for VP Records and produced by the 'dean of saxophone', Dean Fraser, conductor of the Firehouse Crew band.
Luciano not only sang for his fans but he danced, showing off some fancy footwork.
Junior Kelly, who was making his debut appearance here put on a fairly good show, but judging from the crowd's reaction, they were waiting for him to perform his hit song before they really began to enjoy themselves.
Mikey General on the other hand, a seasoned performer with several songs to his credit, was pleasing. He brought the house down when he performed one of Bob Marley's popular songs, Rebel Music, supported by beautiful harmony from the Daffodils.
