By Tyrone Reid, Staff Reporter 
Tony Rebel
TONY 'THE Rebel with a cause', came, saw and conquered at Harbour Fest 2002, held at the Kingston Waterfront on the 'Inde-Saturday'. The cultural deejay, along with a few of his friends, kept the audience on their toes for an entire hour. Rebel came to the stage with his back-up singers at 8:55 p.m. and opened his set with Loyal Soldier. At that point one could say that the veteran started out slowly - in comparison to what was to come, that is.
He then, after an uplifting message, delivered the equally uplifting song Sweet Sweet Jamaica which was well received by the patrons, who showed their appreciation by waving their hands in total agreement to what was coming from centre stage.
It is a given that Tony is a Rastaman and a performance from the same would not be complete without a ganja campaign. He began his ganja crusade by making some very bold statements. He told the audience that marijuana is used to make over 25,000 different products and that the paper on which the America constitution was written was made from the now illegal substance.
He said that ganja could be the answer to Jamaica's economic woes. However, though he advocated the importance and benefits of the substance, in that same breath said he would not encourage anyone to smoke the 'high grade'.
After 'schooling' the patrons, Rebel delivered a song that advocated 'weed', which cooked up a massive response from the many patrons present. Tony Rebel then switched gears and went from his backyard into his kitchen and gave details of what takes place when the Ras Inna Di Kitchen. He told the female patrons that he would even cook meat for them, but he would not partake of the same, as he prefers his 'Ras-cipes' which are finger-licking.
Tony Rebel showed another dimension of his well-rounded performance when he displayed one of the latest dance moves, entitled 'Send di e-mail', which sent the crowd into a frenzy as the rastaman showed his dancing prowess.
He also paid tribute to Garnet Silk, who was is his very close friend. The conscious artiste even took a stroll down memory lane with hits such as Nazarene Vow, Man Fi Know Jah, Fresh Vegetable and Chatty Chatty, amongst others, which were all met by cheers and flickering of lighters.
Tony stepped up the pace of his already lively set by introducing singer Swade into the mix. They performed their well-known hit Just Friends and at this point they had the crowd eating out of their hands.
The spell that Mr. Rebel had cast on the audience was even more evident with the introduction of Queen Ifrica, whom he brought on-stage to deliver the female version of Just Freinds. It was as if he made the audience like her before she came on-stage.
Queen Ifrica did not let him down, as she came front and centre and proved her talent. The crowd was so into her act that she had to 'pull it up, jack it up and come again' several times at their request. She also performed a conscious track entitled The Streets Are Bloody, which had the patrons seemingly gazing reflectively into 'inner space'.
Rebel also took a firm stance against bleaching, which was met by some hypocritical screams from some fans. He also lashed out against what is written in some history books and what is being taught in schools, as they did not credit inventions that altered human civilisation to the right persons.
Rebel went on to do Jah Is By My Side, which also had the full support of those present. His brother, Honey Comb, who was serving as back-up singer, even got his 15 seconds of fame on the night and used it to deliver a song paying homage to the mothers of creation. Tony Rebel then performed the Spanish version of Jah Is By My Side, which was also well received by the fans. By this time, it was more than evident that he nor anyone he called on-stage could do no wrong.
At 9:55 the Rebel exited and Jerry D called on-stage Arif Cooper. The tag team kept the audience bouncing for the remainder of the night. Arif provided the music and Jerry D provided the vibes.
