By Melville Cooke, Freelance Writer 
Damian 'Junior Gong' and Julian Marley. - File
WESTERN BUREAU:
WITH FOUR of his offspring on-stage singing Could You Be Loved, Bob Marley was probably stroking his beard and saying 'true, true' somewhere in musical Zion on Saturday night.
Damian 'Junior Gong' Marley deejayed, danced and dangled his waist-length locks for nearly an hour before being joined by Julian, Kymani and Stephen in his encore. It was the seal on a performance which was precise, powerful and moved the large audience at the Catherine Hall main venue in Montego Bay to give voice en masse repeatedly.
Red Stripe Reggae Sumfest 2002 chugged to an end with Tony Rebel's Spanish version of If Jah (is standing at my side) at 4:45 on Sunday morning, after he had performed for over 90 minutes. However, when The Gleaner walked through the dispersing crowd, two words kept cropping up.
Beenie Man.
"A shoulda dancehall night dis," one irate patron said.
On a night when Marcus I and Lavaska opened the proceedings and Rayvon and the Big Yard Crew took up the charge, before handing over to Junior. Gong, followed by Ashanti, Ja Rule and Tony Rebel, Sumfest's Interna-tional Night lived up to its name.
The power of cable TV was clearly demonstrated in the thunderous reception which was given to Ashanti, who opened with Baby Baby. Working the crowd with intermittent shouts of 'Jamaica!', the petite singer did Searching and moved into My Baby. Rescue was mostly sung by the ladies in the audience, with whom Ashanti seemed to connect best.
"Thanks for making this song most requested on radio and BET," Ashanti said before doing Foolish, which was met with piercing screams. She explained that it was done for the ladies, because sometimes the men "have us strung out doing some crazy things".
"Always follow your dreams. Don't let anybody tell you you can't do what you want to do. Forget the naysayers," Ashanti said before singing Dreams. Ashanti left with a shout of 'Respect!', which was returned.
For a man who was working on tracks, as his colleague Ashanti did, Ja Rule took a heck of a long time to get set. However, when he did it was pandemonium in the house, as he rasped "Lord can we get a break?" from off-stage. Walking to stage centre with a bottle of champagne and a grin, Ja Rule was an instant hit and when he moved into Holler, it was pandemonium. Living It Up followed, with the crowd going along with him word for word, as they did on the next number as he rapped "every little thing we do is just between me an you."
During his performance, Ja Rule was joined by members of Murder Inc., Black Child staying on-stage with him almost the whole way through. Charli Baltimore came on for Every Thug Needs A Lady, whipping up fresh screams. Rainy Days came before he got different sections of the audience to say 'When I cry' (left), 'You cry' (right), 'We cry' (centre) and 'Together' (everybody).
It did not hurt that he dedicated part of the song for the dead and gone to Bob Marley, although there were more screams for Notorious BIG and Tupac Shakur. Cadillac was up next and he touched the crowd acapella.
"What is my motherf-..g name?" Ja Rule asked, saying that he knew he was not supposed to curse, but there was no other way to do the song. The screams and shouts from the audience were deafening, and only got higher when Ashanti glided out to do Always On Time and Down 4U with Ja Rule.
Shaggy and Rayvon are still the ultimate pair, but this time around it was Rayvon up front as he presented his My Bad 'style and fashion', with the support of the entire Big Yard family of Rik Rok and Brian and Tony Gold. Angel and Nice and Lovely capped off a showing in which the title track of My Bad stood out.
Damian Marley was masterful in a performance which spanned his known material, relatively obscure pieces. Snatches of his father's material, like the 'give way!' call and response from the live version of Punky Reggae Party, used with judicious timing. He started with an extended version of More Justice which took the house down and it never quite got back together until he was over. Searching was found by the crowd, especially when Yami Bolo put in an appearance with his exceptional voice. However, when the music for It Was Written sounded, there was an exceptional frenzy. The appearance of Stephen Marley only enhanced it.
Fresh Vegetable, Nazarene Vow and a new dance called the e-mail, done with his son Patony, as well as an appearance by Queen Ifrica, complemented Tony Rebel's marathon set, which began with Loyal Soldier. He found many in the crowd, as the vast majority stayed with him to the end of Red Stripe Reggae Sumfest 2002.
A minor crowd disturbance to the rear of the crowd to the left of the stage near the end of International Night proved to be exercise for weary legs, but nothing to worry about.
It did not hurt that he dedicated part of the song for the dead and gone to Bob Marley, although there were more screams for Notorious BIG and Tupac Shakur. Cadillac was up next and he touched the crowd a capella.
"What is my motherf-..g name?" Ja Rule asked, saying that he knew he was not supposed to curse, but there was no other way to do the song. The screams and shouts from the audience were deafening, and only got higher when Ashanti glided out to do Always On Time and Down 4U with Ja Rule.
Shaggy and Rayvon are still the ultimate pair, but this time around it was Rayvon up front as he presented his My Bad 'style and fashion', with the support of the entire Big Yard family of Rik Rok and Brian and Tony Gold. Angel and Nice and Lovely capped off a showing in which the title track of My Bad stood out.
Damian Marley was masterful in a performance which spanned his known material, relatively obscure pieces. Snatches of his father's material, like the 'give way!' call and response from the live version of Punky Reggae Party, were used with judicious timing. He started with an extended version of More Justice which took the house down and it never quite got back together until he was over. Still Searching was found by the crowd, especially when Yami Bolo put in an appearance with his exceptional voice. However, when the music for It Was Written sounded, there was an exceptional frenzy. The appearance of Stephen Marley only enhanced it.
Fresh Vegetable, Nazarene Vow and a new dance called the e-mail, done with his son Patony, as well as an appearance by Queen Ifrica, complemented Tony Rebel's marathon set, which began with Loyal Soldier. He found many in the crowd, as the vast majority stayed with him to the end of Red Stripe Reggae Sumfest 2002.
A minor crowd disturbance to the rear of the crowd to the left of the stage near the end of International Night proved to be an exercise for weary legs, but it was nothing to worry about.
