By Mel Cooke, Freelance WriterWESTERN BUREAU:
ON A Friday night when big guns Beres Hammond, Sizzla, Buju Banton and Wayne Wonder naturally took the spotlight, there were other excellent performers at last week's Red Stripe Reggae Sumfest 2003.
Warrior King went on his knees to sing to his Empress So Divine, who smiled graciously as he poured his heart out in song, sharing the end of a powerful showing by her man. Bushman bounced on his toes to declare Man A Lion in a controlled showing which allowed the full range of his impressive voice to roll over the Catherine Hall, Montego Bay, Sumfest main venue.
The Red Stripe Reggae Sumfest superstar, Clinton 'King Prof' Gayle, poured out a soulful Don't Los' Hope, even as an oversized Red Stripe advertising bottle gave up the ghost in a burst of smoke; Colin 'Iley Dread' Levy shared his time with guests Jonah, Lady Saw and Natural Black; Mackie Conscious worked a tight set to finish off with World Is In Trouble.
The SANE band, which would provide support for all except Bushman, did their original Rock Stone to start off a three-song set, making way for Mackie Conscious. He opened with Cell Phone on His Hip, before easing from country and western into reggae with Never Give Up and What If, slowing the roots tempo a bit for Who Is Your Friend and capping off with World Is In Trouble.
Iley Dread started out alone on stage with the slow Let Us Pray, before getting into Clean Up. An explosive Natural Black growled his way on-stage to join in that number, causing a stir inside Catherine Hall, and there was strong applause when they ended.
Iley Dread expressed his content in his reward from Jah lyrically, segueing into One Bright Morning, before calling on the poet Jonah for Rise Up Mothers Rise Up.
The lighters flickered and there was good applause for this number, the cheering getting stronger as he called on one of the hardest working females in the industry,which turned out to be Lady Saw. They performed Walk And Don's Look Back, Lady Saw tickling ribs with the comment that a so man stay, change like green lizard.
King Prof did not exactly hit the spot with Don't Los Hope, but did enough to hold the audience's attention. However, when he hit his winning entry, Love Granny Bad, his slow, chanting style and obvious passion about the lyrics sank home, as he expressed:
God a beg yu no tek me yet
Mek a get a one bus mek she come out of the stress-
King Prof ended a good performance without music, as he paid homage to the virtues of hard work:
I will use de lass an weed out de lawn
Me naa tek de apple whe deh pon di farm-
Warrior King raised the bar several notches, as MC Elise Kelly's mention of 'shu-ba-shu-ba' was enough to get the audience howling. After an invocation from off-stage, he burst on with Pagans and had to pull it up. He never lost momentum from his entry, going on to Jah Is Always There and having to pull up A Breath of Fresh Air. "The church is not merely a building," Warrior King said, before doing Jah Give I The Power to Chant.
"To uplift woman is to uplift the world. I would like to call my Empress on stage, because this song was written for her. Empress Makeda. She is all mine. Straight outa Africa me get her from," he said, as a smiling, white clad lady walked gracefully on-stage.
Warrior King sang Empress So Divine to her, going down on his knees and holding her hand. He was not yet finished, as he gave a hint of their courtship with it's been a while, I've been knocking at your door, then rose to give a snippet of Virtuous Woman before running off stage hand in hand with his lady.
Of course, he had to return to finish it for an enthusiastic Sumfest audience.
Bushman delivered a rub-a-dub set, his excellent voice hugging the rolling bass lines to send the Sumfest Friday night audience into a continuous groove, from which they exploded from time to time as a particularly painless piece struck home.
Man A Lion, Bushman intoned, so the cage of a Jailhouse is not the place to be. He turned his baritone onto love, which seemed to be a popular topic, as he had to pull up his wish to be wrapped up in the arms of a woman.
When Bushman lit up his Lighthouse, hundreds of lighters were mini watchtowers in the audience - and even though a powercut brought darkness to the perimeter of the grounds momentarily, the song seemed powerful enough to turn the lights on again.
Bushman put a Fia Pon A Weakheart, exiting on that number to prompt an encore, for which he moved from a touch of the Crown Prince's Friend For Life to Hypocrites. "A long time oonu no hear me inna dancehall. Me a go do it fe yu," before doing a reworked rendition of Call De Hearse.
Bushman ended a very good showing with It's So easy.
