By Germaine Smith, Staff Reporter
A section of the 20,000-strong crowd at Air Jamaica's 'Islands In The Park' event last Sunday in Brooklyn, New York. - Germain Smith/Staff Photographer
DESPITE REPORTED cutbacks in spending on Air Jamaica's 'Islands In The Park' show, an overwhelming crowd inside Prospect Park in Brooklyn, New York, last Sunday, signalled a successful effort by the airline.
About 20,000 people assembled inside Prospect Park to consume as much as they could of the Caribbean culture that was available.
Claire Robinson, the regional sales manager for special markets at Air Jamaica, told The Gleaner that the company could not spend as much on the show as they would have liked, due to the present economic climate. This, however, was hardly obvious, as the quality of the show and the support it got were outstanding.
COLOURFUL BOOTHS
Roughly 60 booths, each displaying the products of various Caribbean countries, formed an arc on either side of the stage area, going right around the section of the park chosen for the event. These colourful booths seemed well supported for the most part, though several patrons preferred to browse rather than buy goods.
The show itself was not short of entertainment. With the proceedings beginning with emcee Jerry Davy, the 'Vibes Master', at 11:30 a.m. local time the stage acted like a magnet, at first drawing people only in pairs, but eventually bringing them in droves.
GOOD PERFORMANCES
Caymanian band Notch, with lead singer Jean Eric, hit the stage first and performed several covers of songs by Jamaican artistes. Dreadlocked and wearing sunshades, he was like a rocksteady artiste, performing Beres Hammond hits like Step Aside Now, VC's By His Deeds, Everton Blendah's Lift Up Your Head and several Freddie McGregor songs. He was forced to keep it tight, however, because the show had a 6:00 p.m. cut-off time and there were many artistes scheduled after his band. He did not leave before performing the band's original Give It To Me Baby.
Next was St. Lucian band True Tone, followed by Trinidad band Traffik. The former was like a sedative in the cool afternoon, playing soothing jazz-flavoured covers of hits like Bob Marley's Small Axe. Traffik, however, was the complete opposite of that, injecting hype into a by then active audience willing to do anything they were commanded to.
While performing a song that described throwing sand in the air, powder appeared close to the stage inside Prospect Park. Jumping fans threw powder and sprayed water all around, sending camera crews at the stage scampering for cover. An engaging Iwer George, who was next, contributed to this as well, urging them to "throw yu powda."
Between his songs, he dabbled into politics and social commentary on religion, asking those in support of one Caribbean passport to wave their rags. After this, he told the crowd that back in the 1970s Rastafarians used to live in deplorable conditions and were discriminated against heavily. "Now yu find some Rastas getting commercialised and turning Rasta in their heart... they get discriminated against too much, so I will be a Rasta in my heart," Iwer told the crowd.
OLDIES BUT GOODIES
The Fab Five posse, though dressed in black, was anything but mournful. They gave an excellent account of themselves with their renditions of several Jamaican reggae and dancehall hits, mixed with a few of their own. By then the crowd had swelled to fill the entire ground, reminding one of Sting or Reggae Sumfest.
The predominantly youthful responded well to older tunes like Half Pint's Greetings, as well as the Zion Gate remake by George Nooks. When they switched to the 'Diwali' rhythm, the tempo rose inside the venue. It was a sea of heads bobbing to the band as they did all the songs on the rhythm.
When Ken Boothe hit the stage, things went to another level. Dressed entirely in white, Boothe was like an angel as he could not go wrong with the songs he did. From The Train Is Coming to Puppet On A String to Everything I Own, he had the crowd slowly grooving to his crooning. During his gig, Boothe did his trademark foot movements which made him seem like a tap dancer at times. The audience loved every minute of it. By the time he was finished, it was just time to bring the curtains down on a beautiful show.
