THE BIGGEST drawback to 'Spectrum' on Saturday came at 2:30 a.m. when the patrons at the Students' Union had to wait for more than an hour to see Beenie Man perform.
Beenie Man, who later revealed that the artistes billed to perform at Spectrum were upset about not being paid, told the audience he, too, had not been paid but decided to work regardless.
"Di promoter nuh pay the artiste dem. Not even me get pay. But true a long time mi a do dis mi nuh come fi go back home. We bun b---ty man. Weh mi fans dem deh"? he asked before performing Badman Chi Chi Man.
The crowd was now behind him.
"This is the UWI and wi caan come here and cuss no badword. Lets do dis ting properly... Wi a intelligent badman," he said before reeling off 'We go a war school go study war analogy'.
In another life Baby Cham must have been a reverend since the only thing he needed during his performance was a Bible. "Thou shalt not be badmind," he declared as organ music dominated the background. "Thou shalt not be red eye."
With the mood for a negro spiritual now set and with three back-up singers dressed in white, humming the tune to Badmind, Baby Cham appeared poised to call down the Holy Spirit. "Preach it pastor," someone shouted from the front of the stage.
"Di people dem wha nuh trus' di police, han' inna di air. Over three or four days we a hear pure bad news bout di police. Dat nuh right," Baby Cham preached.
"Das why di yute dem fi work hard," Baby Cham continued. "Yuh tink one dem go caan si mi yute and box him?" he asked.
The question generated screams from patrons, especially one woman who uttered an expletive in approval.
"Di British High Commission seh we need visa fi go a dem country but tell dem... the first words of Can't Stop Us followed and the crowd erupted.
Wayne Marshall's appearance triggered an immediate jump in the noise level and it remained constantly loud inside the Students' Union building as he performed hits like Overcome and Feeling It, among a host of others. He chatted with the crowd and then introduced upcoming singjay, Zumjay. It was a move that sent the audience wild.
"Dem yute yah a good yute," Zumjay declared as he took the microphone from Wayne Marshall. "Dem yute yah call me pon mi first big show a Super Jam 2000," he said before starting Shake It. Other songs followed and then Zumjay left.
The rest of Marshall's 20-minute long presentation then continued. "Since night me get a overseas call. When mi ansa it mi seh what a gwaan singer, di singer sey mi want yuh go sing me big tune."
No Letting Go followed and the crowd loved it.
Elephant Man's antics made up for where his introductions fell down. He jigged, climbed and 'wined' during his 30-minute performance. He climbed the speaker, forcing the production team to hold firm lest the boxes tumble over. The 'energy god' wined and climbed on to the back of a woman who probably weighed three times as much as he did, and he encouraged an eager female patron to 'knead mi anaconda like yuh a mek dumpling' as he did Give Har It Good.
Buju's performance turned out to be a cameo but it went over well. "Although no money nuh run mi still have to have some fun," Buju disclosed as he and 'The Doctor' Beenie Man, teamed up to whip the crowd into a frenzy.
"Woman, stop di noise mek mi talk. We want a place where we play dancehall undisturbed. Nuff a oonu a hypocrite, oonu love come watch we but oonu nah defend dancehall. Mi want oonu defend dancehall," he said as he launched into a slew of social commentary songs.
Overall, the event went well.
