By Adrian Frater News EditorWESTERN BUREAU:
IN A move aimed at comforting fans in the aftermath of the devastation caused by Hurricane Ivan, the promoters of the annual 'Tribute to Peter Tosh' Showcase have decided to remove the cover charge this year and will be presenting the event "free for the people".
"Music is not only about entertaining, it is also about healing," said businessman Worrell King, the CEO of King of Kings Promotions, the promoters of the annual event. "Since the west has been battered so badly, we have decided to give them 'Tribute' free, as part of the healing process."
The show, which was originally slated for Sunday, October 17, on the grounds surrounding Tosh's mausoleum which is sited some 50 yards from his mother's house in Belmont, Westmore-land, has been brought forward by one day and will now be staged at Independence Park, in Savanna-la-Mar.
EDIFYING MUSIC
"We had hoped to make it a grand homecoming for 'Tribute' but Hurricane Ivan intervened so we have shelved the original concept," said King, who has also transformed the event into a day event for the first time. "For the first time we will be having 'Tribute' during daylight hours, spanning the period 1:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m."
Despite the changes in structure, King is promising that the show will still maintain its usually high standard in terms of quality and overall presentation. "We have always prided ourselves in providing patrons with clean, edifying music, which usually rests on the same enviable standard that has made Tosh such a revered voice in message music," he said.
The original line-up of artistes has not changed with the impressive youthful entourage of Taurus Riley, Chezedek, Turbulence, I Wayne, Perfect, Abdel Wright, Jah Mel, Natty King and Zimbabwe's Professor Isaac Kalambu, a lecturer at the University of Michigan, poised to take top billing.
"As is now customary, we will also be having some of the perennial performers such as Edi Fitzroy, who has never missed 'Tribute' in its ten years," said King. "We will also have SANE (Sound Against Negative Resistance) Band and we are keeping our fingers crossed that a member of Tosh's family will be among the performers."
While being disappointed that the bid to take 'Tribute' back to Belmont, where it started 10 years ago, failed, it was the philosophical King who started the show after he noticed that very little was being done to preserve the memory of the legendary Wailer, who was murdered on September 11, 1987.
"Tosh's mausoleum is now a prominent tourist attraction so sooner or later we will have to do something there," said King who is confident that there will be other opportunities to go back to Belmont. "We also feel that a show in Belmont has a special family flavour."
