THE COMBINED musical assault of calypso, lovers rock and vintage oldies proved to be the right formula for patrons on Sunday night as Red Stripe Reggae Sumfest 2002 got off to an enterprising start at the Caribbean Beach Park, in Montego Bay on Monday. Between Byron Lee and the Dragonaires, who got the show underway; Nadine Sutherland, who brought special energy; Gregory Isaacs, who ruled in his usual cool style and 'Mr Rocksteady', Alton Ellis, the audience, which was dominated by visitors to the island, got all that they wanted and more.
"It was just a fabulous show, my one disappointment was that it did not go all night until daylight," said Suzan Smith, a US-based Jamaican nurse. "This has definitely gotten me more excited for the remainder of the festival."
Byron Lee and the Dragonaires, who played in two separate stints, was simply masterful as with the energetic Oscar B out front, their lyrical journey, which included phases where members of the audience were invited on-stage, covered classics such as the soca staple Hot, Hot, Hot, the reggae ballad Duppy Gunman and the red-hot dancehall numbers Log On and Bad Man Ah Bad Man. After having the audience expending a lot of energy all over the lawn, going 'up north' and 'down south' and 'sideways', Byron Lee & the Dragonaires made way for the SANE backing band, which opened their stint by backing festival song contender Chester McCreath on his festival entry, Jam Summer.
The tempo was lifted to fever pitch when the dancing Nadine Sutherland hit centre stage. After opening with Oh Wah, the former child star slid into overdrive, delighting the audience with both her dancing and songs such as Baby Face, Judgement Day, Jah Jah is My Light and Action, in which she was masterful doing the DJ part of Terror Fabulous. Her encore, Old Pirate, was equally well delivered.
As is now customary, Gregory Isaacs was the consummate crowd-pleaser, launching into his vast repertoire of hits, turning up the excitement level among the fans while remaining as cool as a cucumber. It was a case of Tune In, Top Ten and Rumours as he made his mark and then Mr. Brown, Soon Forward, Night Nurse' and his encore choice, The More Dem Get It, as he consolidated and conquered. While the scores of bikini-clad youngsters seemed somewhat out of place when the veteran Alton Ellis mounted the stage, for the seasoned middle-aged, it was a true celebration of vintage music in all its glory.
Couples lovingly moved into each other arms as Alton Ellis' velvet-smooth voice echoed, Girl I Have Got a Date as he went about closing the show with the grace and ease of the seasoned campaigner he is. Displaying much more dancing movements than he normally does, the veteran star had the fans in ecstasy on songs such as Tumbling Tears, Let Them Try, Breaking Up and Muriel.
After informing the faithful who had stuck around for his performance that daybreak was looming, Alton made his exit. However, the crowd demanded more and he returned and sealed his impressive display with his newest song, Really Want To Reggae and Rocksteady.
