- Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer
Deejays Assassin, right, and Spragga Benz show their mettlee at West Kingston Jamboree.
THE PRESIDENTIAL Click did not bring Santa Claus to Tivoli Gardens that day but they brought what he could not. At their annual West Kingston Jamboree, they brought together thousands of eager fans to the community's playfield, to see and hear some of their favourite local reggae and dancehall acts on stage.
The event was huge, and to say the least, although the performances were short snappy pieces, the performances by the established artistes were good as well.
Queen Paula and Macka Diamond carried damaging venom in their performances, but they found fertile responses from the massive audience. Macka Diamond came and counteracted a Vybz Kartel song with her 'Tek Con', only to be later counteracted by Queen Paula. As if one was not enough, Queen Paula then counteracted CéCile's track 'Do It To Me'. With each swipe they took, torches lit up the night sky and whistles of approval rose almost to the level of the speakers.
There were performances by Alley Cat, George Nooks, X-Sytement, Bling Dawg, Ward 21, Hot Wings (formerly Mr. Chicken), Mr. Lex and General B, Red Square among others. Spragga Benz stood tall for the night, however, with some unique reasonings on certain topics. He tackled issues of Third World relations with the World Bank and the IMF, self-defence, and other 'rude bwoy' topics which caused an eruption of the traditional 'buyaca' shouts, coupled with torches and lighters held sky high.
Assassin was not too far behind with his set, but clearly Tivoli Gardens belonged to Sizzla Kalonji. From the moment MC Maestro announced he was about to perform, the noise did not stop. Every tune he touched was a hit for them, so he did not have to work hard for the ecstatic reactions he got. It was heart-warming to see a full moon hanging above Tivoli Gardens, and a packed playfield of fans singing along with Sizzla.
Although the night was chilly by Kingston's standards, the warmth generated inside the venue by the singing along was worth the trip to the Garden.
