'TRILOGY - THE Dancehall Chapters', which was held at the Constant Spring Golf Club last Saturday proved to be a teen affair as a massive number of them turned out.
Upon entering the pathway leading up to the venue, scores of teenagers could be seen clustered in small groups chatting away. Some took the opportunity to smoke a cigarette.
One young man who was clearly a novice almost lost his lungs after inhaling a lot of smoke and was not able to exhale freely. He coughed up a storm before a friend came over and began to advise him on how it (puffing the cigarette) should be done.
A lot of persons just loitered outside not wanting to risk going in early. This was due to a sign marked 'NO RE-ENTRY' which was placed at the entry post and the ticket purchasing area.
The Gleaner inquired from a patron her reason for waiting outside the venue was.
"I don't want to risk going inside and then it guh flop, I don't have money to waste," she said frantically.
However, at minutes to 12, patrons became 'brave' and began cramming the entrance of the main venue. They were asked to produce their tickets after which they were searched by security personnel before entering the dance room.
When The Gleaner entered, the main dance room was pack to capacity. The pool area which was located at the foot of the main dance room was scantily occupied by patrons. Persons in this area stood, drank and chatted as if the music which was being played by Renaissance was unable to tingle a nerve in their body.
Renaissance, which had been playing a barrage of older dancehall hits, made way for Leftside and Esco. The duo had the crowd, which seem to be made up of fourth and fifth form high school students, at their mercy by hosting an 'MTV segment'. The latest hip-hop and R&B songs pierced the ear as the selectors 'dropped' hit after hit.
Several persons occasionally had to leave the dance room for the open air pool area to cool down.
At about 1 a.m. Ninja Man was introduced by Leftside and Esco. The 'Don Gorgon' blurted out Real Ninja Man before making the patrons aware of his plans for Sting 2002. He did a great deal of advertising for the event aforementioned, before saying what would happen to anyone who was bold enough to challenge him at its staging later this year.
He then went on to sing an unfamiliar song on the Super Star rhythm which was provided. The crowd had now grown restless and began to boo Ninja Man. He tried feverishly to redeem himself by singing Undertaker but to no avail as the patrons turned up the 'booing' volume.
Leftside and Esco played a few more songs before making their exit.
DJ Karim took over and immediately had the patrons swinging. He spun off songs such as Capleton's, Bun Out a Chi Chi, Phone Line and Move Forward before easing into Bounty Killer's Mystery and Shorty by Baby Cham. The patrons who could find space to dance welcomed the opportunity and did so, caring little about anything else that was going on around them.
The selector lost his steam a bit when he began spinning several unfamiliar rap and hip-hop songs but he redeemed himself by playing Busta Rhyme's Clap.
DJ Karim made way for Leftside and Esco once more at approximately 1:50 a.m. and eventually the Renaissance crew took over once more.
At about 2:15 a.m. with Baby Cham present, Renaissance played his soon to be released single Bun Bad Mine which went down well with the patrons. The Renaissance crew then took off with numerous dubs, with the crowd seeming to enjoy most of them.
Some patrons began to make their way to the exit at about 3:45 a.m. Some refused to leave so 'early' and kept jamming.
The promoters, seeming to want the show to end, began turning on the bright lights sequentially, each time keeping it on for longer periods. Some of the patrons did not seem to get the message until about 4:15 a.m. when the lights were turned on permanently. Then and only then did an impressive party come to an end.
