CraigieSINGER VALTON Craigie popularly known as 'V.C.' did not fall short on his promise to make his performance worth the audience's while when he did the songs that are to be on his upcoming album Between the Doors.
The show, which saw V.C. singing a number of songs on the album as well as songs already released, was held at the Waterfalls Nightclub in Liguanea, St. Andrew on Thursday night.
The singer was in splendid form in front of a small gathering at the nightclub. In between the banter and the tunes, the singer's pre-album launch performance demonstrated that he has the ability to develop into a good performer.
V.C. appeared on-stage at minutes past 10 p.m. to a warm reception. With a four member band and three back-up vocalists behind him, he opened with My Time Now.
The unfamiliar number got some members rocking to the catchy melody. Without pausing, he eased into the more familiar Gwaan and judging from the reaction from members of the audience, it was clear that VC had hit the right note early.
"I want to thank my friends, family and the media for coming out tonight. I'm going to try to make it worth your while," he said as the band struck the introductory notes for Judgement.
His bantering would continue after that selection.
"The other day somebody look pon mi an' seh all your tune deal wid judgement. I said this is Jamaica and I have to reflect what's happening. But I'm not into depressing, as there are always positive messages," he said before easing into Where Did We Go Wrong.
His touching on world issues and his desire to remain in Jamaica was the introduction to Ownna Yard. With his melodious voice thrilling the audience, he then did Friday, a song written and produced by Beres Hammond.
Friday got a good response but the song that probably got the second most response for the night from the gathering was Roll It - a tune that promotes the smoking of ganja. His performance of Can't Give Up ended his first segment 32 minutes after the start.
During the 'break', Lady Martina, a singer with lots of promise, got her chance to entertain the audience. Her 15 minutes on-stage saw her doing songs that were social commentaries as well as something for the lovers. An a capella performance of a verse from a lovers' rock tune ended her set.
V.C. returned 11:00 p.m. This time however, he had company in the form of Dean Fraser. Fraser's saxophone proved instrumental as VC did a slower version of By His Deeds. So good was the rendition that the audience shouted 'Pull up' when he launched fully into his most popular song. The high point of the number was the saxophone segment by Dean Fraser. The applause increased as the musician put his all in what V.C. described as the instrumental version of his song.
Fraser's sax would come into play again when V.C. did Joshua, a song which he said he wrote for his son.
"They always complain that I do nothing for the ladies. That's not true," he said as he went into Undecided.
He would complete the night by serenading his wife.
"I did it out of frustration of having the material that no one has heard. I took a gamble in order to allow persons to come out and hear it," he said after the performance.
