By Mel Cooke, Freelance Writer 
As Black Chiney's selectors put it before beginning their 15-minute stint, 'from night no vibes no inna de place'. - Patrick Campbell/Freelance Photographer
WESTERN BUREAU:
THERE WAS hardly any smoke and no battle at all, but The Mighty Crown was clearly the pick of the litter of six sounds at Pier 1 on Tuesday night.
It was so much so that the Japanese outfit was given the nod to play 10 minutes after the round of 15 minutes by each unit was over. These 10 minutes extended into over half an hour with The Mighty Crown effectively bringing Red Stripe Reggae Sumfest 2002's 'Sound System Night' to an end.
There was a decent crowd at the Montego Bay venue, although it never reached proportions worth sending e-mail home about.
Jah Creation's selectors emphasised that all of the sound systems - Pure Playazz, Danger Zone, Pieces and Black Chiney being the others - played on Creation's equipment - a fact that they would have done better to play down.
Whether it was overamplification at the turntables or the quality of the sound system itself, Jah Creation did not have an outstanding night in terms of its equipment, Danger Zone sounding especially harsh in the wee hours yesterday morning.
However, with good selections, as well as a minimisation of the microphone gimmicks when said antics had become painfully repetitive, The Mighty Crown was a clear choice for top honours.
As Black Chiney's selectors put it before beginning their 15-minute stint, "from night no vibes no inna de place". They were right as, despite fair to middling quarter-hour sets from Jah Creation, Danger Zone, Pieces and Pure Playazz, the place had not really 'bussed' yet.
The half-hour each segment was much the same.
Promising to put some effort into the dance, Black Chiney opened up with a clip from Third World Cop, complete with a couple claats, and followed up with an Assassin dub plate based on Roughest made specially for the occasion:
Yu see tonight inna Sumfest
We ago see who a de roughest.
This moved the crowd and the Miami-based sound system followed with a dub plate clash version of Party Time (we kill sound in the party) and Bounty Killer's current chart-topper, Sufferer (born as a murderer). Combative tunes by Beenie Man and Ward 21 preceded a flashback to the early to mid 1990s, including Beenie Man's Memories and Gal Dem Way, as well as Spragga Benz's G-String.
Their set ended with a selector throwing savage backways stabs on the skirt covered posterior of a woman who confessed to not wearing any panties.
However, The Mighty Crown proved more Jamaican than the Jamaicans, opening their 15-minute stint with the National Anthem, sung by Pad Anthony, with a 'Japanese talk' to end each line. The pride and joy of Japan then played their personal anthem and a couple hip-hop tracks which did okay.
Then the selector let out a gear. "Me is not a juggler, me is a sound-killer he said," and the crowd was immediately enthused. "But is a Sumfest ting, so no killing," he quickly deflated them.
However, his base instincts would not be denied. "As a matter of fact, yu know wha? Mi a go kill me ... self," he said to the crowd's delight.
This lead to a storming series of dub plate combinations, with Buju alongside Shabba included, the man from Seaview steady as a Formula One racing car on the track as he deejayed Oil Up All A De Gun Dem.
From Sizzla's Karate on a hip-hop rhythm dub plate style to Elephant Message, through Tek Off Di Draws and Sufferer on dub, Mighty Crown moved Pier One as no sound before them on the night did. By the time they ended on a Buju medley on dub, of course it was clear that the standard for the night had been established.
Jah Creation attempted to follow the pace, opening with Luciano singing and strumming for Jamaica and following up with Anthony Cruz's You Got It Bad on special. Much needed variety came with Beres Hammond (No Shot Naa Bus) and Derrick Morgan and Justin Hinds and the Dominoes (Carry Go Bring Come) on dub. However, when Creation was finished, it was The Mighty Crown that was asked to play that aforementioned 10-minutes-that-grew-into-the dance-ending by special request.
They hit the spot with a series of weed tunes, including Under Mi Sensi, Police In Helicopter and Stalk of Sensimilla.
The Guns and Roses girls from MoBay did some frenetic skinning out on the balcony of the building behind the selectors' tents, their high point coming with synchronised head-top wining to Danger Zone's salvo of Backshot, Position, and Batty Rider.
During their half-hour stint, The Mighty Crown introduced 10-year-old DJ Amali as a youngster who has just signed a contract with Radio One in England to host and select on his own reggae radio programme.
In addition, they showed their depth in this round by playing reggae staples from Bob Marley, Freddy McGregor and Junior Reid, opening with Natural Mystic.
See related story about the 'Joke' of the profanity ban in The Star.
