Michael Reckord, Contributor
Donnie McClurkin goes through one of his songs during his close to two-hour-long set at King's House on Saturday. - - PHOTO BY COLIN HAMILTON/FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER
THEY JUST wouldn't let him go. That's the thousands of fans of pastor and gospel singer Donnie McClurkin who attended his concert at King's House, St. Andrew, on Saturday night.
The result was that the show scheduled for 7:30 p.m.-10:30 p.m. went on until 11:40 p.m. and even then the audience which had been whipped into near-frenzy by the tall, handsome, charismatic McClurkin still wanted more. Repeatedly during his set which began at 10 o'clock, he asked in soca-session style, "Are you ready to go home?" And each time the jumping, rag-waving crowd yelled back, "No!"
So the minister, television/movie/recording star continued to mesmerise his patrons. He sang, joked, preached, testified, spoke in tongues and declared any cancer and AIDS victims in the audience to be healed. For good measure, he also rebuked any fornicators and adulterers before him as well.
UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL
While he didn't exactly have an altar call, the barriers which had kept the audience at a cricket pitch length from the stage during the first half of the show, moved gradually forward to within a foot of the stage. The featured artiste too moved as close as he could to his audience, and for half-an-hour he performed seated on a speaker at the front of the stage.
In the first half of the event local gospel singers showed that they too had star power. The opening acts, Katalys Crew, delivered their trademark reggae gospel, with songs from their Open Yu Eyes album. The well-received numbers included Nah Give up, Chantin, Mama, A Prayer for Change and a new release, Spiritual War.
They were followed by solo singer Noreta Lewis who told The Gleaner she was 'born in the church' and has been singing from the age of six. She rather calmed the audience with her songs, including I'll Make it Through The Valley, Days of Elijah and a medley, Sing Praises.
THRILLERS UNITED
Members of Thrillers United get close to the audience at the Donnie McClurkin concert on the lawns of King's House on Saturday. - PHOTO BY COLIN HAMILTON/FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER
Thrillers United, former members of the famed Grace Thrillers, raised the level of excitement again. The members, Pat, Leroy, Dian, Shirley and Sandra - all experienced artistes, had the crowd leaping and cheering and shouting Amen, as they sang a mixture of international gospel numbers as well as reggae and soca gospel. The audience often sang along.
The group's high-energy performance certainly lifted the audience. It seemed there was no higher place for them to go but after the intermission, came McClurkin. Between the effervescent emcee, Nadine Blair, (herself a gospel ginger, with the group Perpetual Praise, which she founded) and the excellent backing band, McClurkin was brought on with much fanfare.
The crowd clearly expected a lot from him. McClurkin has recorded several gold albums, has travelled the world, performing in Japanese, Russian and Spanish (as he did Saturday night), has frequently appeared on television in talk shows and sitcoms, and was in the movie The Fighting Temptations. The ordained minister who has served as assistant pastor and pastor has also been frequently featured in newspapers and magazines worldwide.
He did not disappoint Saturday night's thousands as he chanted and sang more than a dozen songs. They included There's No God Like Jehovah, Great is Your Mercy, I Will Trust Him, I Call You Holy, My Soul Loves Jesus and his huge hit, Again. McClurkin told the crowd he grew up in a Jamaican church (in Detroit apparently) and he occasionally spoke and sang with a Jamaican accent.
Though excited, the crowd was very well behaved, thanks, perhaps to the tight security provided by the police. And probably thanks too to the excellent co-ordination of producer Ken Nelson for the promoters Exciting Tours & Services Ltd.
