LMS along with Morgan Heritage during their performance. - Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer IT IS said that reggae is versatile. Well this versatility was made apparent at the launch of the 'International Reggae Day Festival' at Livity Restaurant on Old Hope Road, St. Andrew on Sunday night.
Whether it was the commanding Turbulence, the 'fire burning' Anthony B, the cool Mighty Diamonds or the Morgan family which featured LMS and their siblings Morgan Heritage, reggae was in its element.
While all the artistes gave good performances, it was probably the upcoming act Turbulence who stole the night. Being true to his name he caused more than a commotion inside the venue at Livity with lyrics that touched almost every topic.
From the beginning it was clear that he would have an impact as he arrived at the venue with an entourage of five young Rastafarians, all decked out in ties to match their outfits.
His entourage came on-stage before him and a flag waver stood on either side while he delivered his first number from backstage. "From yuh burn Babylon and all evil weh deh fight out reggae music sing wid mi," he declared before sampling Mary J. Blige's Family Affair for the song Yeah Yeah Yeah.
The first verse of the song spoke about peace and love. However, the second verse would depart from that entirely. "Well me a Rastaman an' mi nuh nyam beef or pork," he said as he spoke of his undying love for vegetarian dishes as the venue cheered him on.
With the matter of human consumption addressed, he turned his attention to homsexuality and proceeded to condemn the act. In his condemnation he spoke of his love for the females and his bedroom prowess. In addition, he did a safe sex song which caused Livity Splash to come alive.
He then addressed the issue of delinquent dads.
"I don't grow up wid a fada. I don't see my fada since mi a 11," he said before doing Oh Mama Wipe The Tears From Your Eyes to a resounding response. He called on a female singer and they teamed well to deliver two songs before his set ended.
Anthony B, the penultimate performer, turned up in a no nonsense mood. With the occasional shout of 'Bun dutty Babylon' and his knees lifting all the way to his chin, the singer went through a few of his more popular songs. He started off with Good Cop and with shouts of 'Wi bun police' he eased into Fire Pon Rome. He then moved through the verses with the audience cheering him on and banging pot covers together.
With his eyes shut as if imagining a better Jamaica, Anthony B did Nobody Want To Plant The Corn and the venue got noisier as they showed their appreciation for the song. He later called up Norris Man and rounded off a 45-minute-set with Mr. Heartless.
The Mighty Diamonds rapped up the night's proceedings. Giving the patrons hits such as We've Got To Live Some Life, When The Right Time Come and several others, they had persons singing and dancing along eagerly. Unlike everybody else before them, they let their lyrics do the talking. The trio harmonised well and gained applause for I Need A Roof and paid tribute to Bob Marley with Get Up, Stand Up. However, what brought the house down was their final song, Pass The Kutchie.
Earlier, on a number of occasions, LMS, alongside their siblings Morgan Heritage, sent the audience into a frenzy. The LMS trio opened up with From The Root and went through most of their material, gaining applause along the way especially when the tracks were familiar. However, when LMS called up Morgan Heritage, Livity transformed into a more festive mode.
The family combined well on She's Still Loving Me, We Feel Love and ended with Reggae Bring Back Love.
Junior Kelly delivered a tight set. He touched on an unusual topic, "Red hot fire pon di bootlegger dem cause it a suffer mi yute dem. Unnu fi spread di word cause artistes, producers and back-up vocalist a feel it," he said midway through his performance. That issue aside he performed several songs including Baby Can We Meet and Black Is My Colour before leaving.
Other performances came from the L'Acadco Drummers and Keteis.
