Heather Henry, Gleaner Writer

Left: Nadine Sutherland pleasing her audience at the Special Ladies in Concert.   Right: Newcomer Etana performs at the event. - Photo by Noel Thompson

Dancing and standing spaces were abundant at Special Ladies in Concert held at the Club Inferno, Rose Hall, Montego Bay, on Saturday night, as a mere handful of patrons turned out for the event that featured headliners Ray Goodman and Brown.

The show, which featured veteran Jamaican female vocalist Marcia Griffths and Nadine Sutherland as well as emerging acts Tessanne Chin and Cherine Anderson and new act Etana, was slated to start at 7:00 p.m. got off to a rather late start.

Jackie Norman, the show's emcee, quickly appeased the mature audience by getting the couples in the audience involved in some activities for prizes. This activity went down quite well with the audience who got a few good laughs from the activities.

When the show finally opened at 9:25 Tessanne Chynn took the stage with When I'm with You. Tessanne performed competently and was able to drum up some support from the small crowd with her hit single Hideaway.

Backing band, Lloyd Parkes and the We the People, then took over and served a wide assortment of old tunes and instrumentals to the audience who indicated their approval by rocking in their chairs. They delivered songs such as Ain't too Proud to Beg and Long Time We No have No Nice Time.

It was only when Nadine Sutherland then took the stage with I Never Want to Fall in Love with You that the audience really got excited. Nadine used her lively stage antics to subtlety charm the audience into doing as she pleased. She thrilled then audience with Action and a several renditions of her favourites songs.

She was followed by new reggae act Etana. From she belted the first note of her first song, Killing D Youths Dem Softly, Etana had the audience captivated with the blatant social commentary in her lyrics and the power of her voice. She was well received by the audience who connected with the passion of her delivery.

High point

Cherine Anderson was up next and delivered songs such as Good Love, and Members Only. However, the high point of her performance was her performance of her hit Are you Coming Over Tonight that she performed with Peter Gayle.

It was when the lady Marcia Griffths took the stage that Club Inferno became hot. Elegantly dressed, she took the stage at 11:12 singing I've got to kiss You Once More and kissed the night away from the other female performers. She then launched into Dream Land, which raised the tempo, some more. She then paid tribute to Culture and Bob Marley delivering some rendition of their songs. Marcia Griffths had the crowd up and moving.

At the end of her performance she was called back for an encore and had the crowd doing the Electric Boogie.

The men of the moment Ray Goodman and Brown took the stage at 12:40 with Love on a Two Way Street. The audience simply drank in the performance of the soul legends that had a foot and a hand motion to match almost every word they sang. The absence of a backing band did not dampen the group's performance one bit - they gave patrons their money's worth.

They delivered their hits such as Come On Sexy Mama and Happy Anniversary. Then treated the audience to some of their favourite songs by other groups such as Break up to Make Up. They closed their 45-minute performance with their 20-year-old hit Special Lady.

Though the turn out for Special Ladies in Concert was disappointing, the patrons who attended the event were given their money's worth in wholesome entertainment.