Mel Cooke, Freelance Writer

The audience got many encores from Buju during his performance at Sting 2006, held at Jamworld Entertainment Centre, Portmore, St. Catherine, on Boxing Day. - Nathaniel Stewart/Freelance Photographer

When MC Shaka Fame said, 'Boom bye bye', the thousands who filled Jamworld, Portmore, St. Catherine, early Wednesday morning happily completed the sentence.

Then came the spoken introduction to Driver, and the venue erupted.

The rock-influenced Wipe Out started, the audience started leaping and cheering and Buju Banton chanted, "me an oonu me an oonu bo…," high stepping out onstage in white as the audience again erupted.

"Oonu tink oonu get whe!" Buju deejayed, taking off his white jacket to get down to business in a black shirt, leaning back and rocking his hips as he promised the ladies to "wuk out yu spine". "Dem a talk?" Buju Banton demanded, teasing "run de marathon dem coulden run it" on the Punaany rhythm before rocking a "beng de de beng beng".

"So me come back a yard an me understan' a pure badman," he said, deejaying "dem a come talk bout dem wicked".

"I gwine take you to some way back time," Buju said, asking the ladies to be their Only Man, Jamworld again erupting.

A huge smile came before he rasped, "me no inna nutten too wide," and again the howls went up, Buju putting one leg up on a monitor and almost whispering the chorus the second time around, then suddenly going fully guttural.

When his voice lifted into Mr. Nine, the audience screaming a forward.

With the Shiloh band in good nick and a pair of ladies providing good harmony, the thousands sang the brief Til Shiloh. Buju hailed Jah thrice, then said, "Dem fight I still. What am I to do, my people? Work with me." And they did on Destiny and agreed that "only Rasta can free the people". He repeated 'on and on' at the end of Untold Stories, over and over again, called in Anthony Cruz to mourn "the place too bloody" and remembered the departed with God bless Culture.

Buju pon top

A set of lyrics followed the prayerful How Maasa God Worl' a Run', the audience cheering wildly as Buju's voice soared into "dere is no end to de war between me an faggot/a no b ... y business put Buju pon top".

Pinchers chipped in with I'm a Don to the audience's delight and, after deejaying a bit, Buju declared, "Mi goooone."

Of course, they wanted more and when the Taxi rhythm started and Buju cried out, "Driva!" Jamworld went into a frenzy. On 'pounds dem a bite' he wheeled, starting again with "me have a Cable and Wireless phone an' Digicel chip". And there were more cheers when Buju hoisted a lanky leg on a monitor and deejayed "Elephant go mek a Driver, but fi him ting no sell off."

He rocked the audience with snippets of early hits such as Big It Up.

"Dem a talk bout rude boy tune. We start it an we lef it. Destruction no good. A we did sing," Buju said, hitting Man Fe Dead. Dickie, Deportee and Operation Ardent followed.

"De people know me fe da tune ya," he said, hitting Browning, followed by Black Woman, then doing two-legged leaps to his left across the stage as he demanded, "Talk to me."

And Buju Banton crooned Lover's Choice to the ladies, asked for a 'one to one', requested I Wanna Be Loved and flayed the Murderer, utilising the rhythm from that song to observe "I had a close one yesterday," and "it's not an easy road," crooning Our Father before saying thanks, lifting his voice over the strong farewell applause to say a last, long, loud, "we love you."