VC goes a capella on 'Open Microphone' night
published: Wednesday | January 29, 2003
By Chaos, Freelance Writer
VALTON 'VC' Craigie last Tuesday put his personal touch on the last 'Open Microphone' night at the Village Café, Liguanea by, doing his last song, an indictment on the state of the island, and maybe the world, today a capella.
He had been introduced by café owner Robert Collins as 'a friend and former schoolmate' and joined on-stage Omar Francis (bass guitar), David Lazarus (guitar), Rupert Bent (guitar), Mark Stephenson (violin), Paul Chang (guitar) and Craig 'Flea' Lee on drums. He said "We a go try a ting, but the band sound tight all night, so we know we can try a ting," before starting off his set with the ode to marijuana, Roll It.
As Kirk Bennett took over from Flea on the skins, VC asked "Are there any parents here?" to which Colins replied "Yes!" "Are you sure?" VC asked once more, to which Colins replied "Yes, mi a pay school fee," which had ripples of laughter running through the audience. A touching tribute to his son Joshua, Sweet Child Of Mine (not the Guns 'N Roses version) followed, with VC giving his rather good voice full reign. The smash hit By His Deeds followed before VC left the stage.
"Unno waan hear one more song?" Collins asked before thanking them for resurrecting live music, and the crowd responded as one in the affirmative. Eschewing the band this time around, he showed how well he can really sing with the a capella Where Did We Go Wrong.
As is always the case, there were a few hopefuls awaiting their turn at the microphone. In this case, the singer/deejay duo Rhinoceros and Detour took to the stage. While their first song, done over Shaggy's Hey Sexy Lady rhythm, was a middling effort, their second showed creativity and some degree of skill. Keep It To Yourself is a funny song and gives the singer, Detour, a good chance to exercise his pipes around Rhinoceros' gravelly vocals.
The night's final fresh act was the determined and persistent Baleno. He did a very rare thing when he froze the band by asking them for 'something new', which had the ensemble members looking at each other in askance. He showed that he needs more practice and less gimmicks, with his continuous references to himself as 'Baleno the girl's dem cappucino' while he rode the Gimme Di Light rhythm. Things got funny when, with the night drawing on, the band stopped playing but Baleno kept going, obviously not willing to let this opportunity slip away. Wine yuh waist an' touch the ground/Reggae music is on the compound he deejayed as Colins took another microphone. "We jus' receive word from the police say to take it down low, the neighbours don't seem to be able to doze - look mi a rhyme - so with respect to the authorities, we're going to take it down." The band then closed with The Beatles Let's Come Together, effectively leaving a disappointed Baleno looking stranded before he finally left the stage, bring another 'Open Microphone' night to a close.
