by Sharon Parris-Chambers – Publisher, Positive Tourism News
MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica – The twentieth production of Reggae Sumfest Festival has been showcased by top Jamaican entertainers at the Catherine Hall, Montego Bay venue from Thursday, July 19 through Saturday, July 21, 2012.
Robert Russell, Chairman, Reggae Sumfest, declared that the 20th production of Reggae Sumfest was something special, especially when viewed in light of Jamaica’s 50th anniversary celebration. He shared his sentiments on Saturday at International Night II. “We pulled out all the stops this year to make sure it was a memorble one. Last year R. Kelly could not come due to an operation on his throat. However he came this year. We finally got Shabba Ranks; tonight is special, we also have Damian Junior Gong, and of course R. Kelly. It was good to present the award to Lady Saw; she is an icon in the business. The public has accepted the festival and we have grown over the years. Many thanks to the team that put it all together.”
Theo Chambers (L) and Robert Russell
On Thursday, Dance Hall night, Lady Saw aka Marian Hall, deejay, was declared undisputed Queen of Dance Hall. Lady Saw’s return was a victory of sorts as she was banned from the same stage years ago. She is the first female deejay to win a Grammy Award and certified as a triple-platinum artist. In keeping with the festival’s 2012 theme, ‘Looking back, moving forward’, Lady Saw made history as the first female recipient of the award.
LadySaw Crowned
According to Adrian Frater, news editor for the Jamaica Gleaner, “Lady Saw gave a killer performance”. In her acceptance speech, the newly crowned Queen of Dancehall acknowledged her contemporaries saying “Big up all the females, sometimes we quarrel but we affi give them their dues,” she said hailing up fellow deejays such as Sister Nancy, Junie Ranks, Macka Diamond, Junie Starr and dubbing Tanya Stephens as “one of the baddest ting!”
Friday night, the audience saw the return of Shabba Ranks the undisputable dancehall veteran to the Montego Bay stage. Theo Chambers, founder of www.LetsDoItInTheCaribbean.com web directory, a big fan of Shabba, attended all nights of the festival. He said “it was a great show; Shabba has not lost his touch!”, as he smiled broadly in reflection. Frater called Shabba “dancehall Emperor” and every media who reported on his performance gave him very high marks.
Following Shabba’s electrifying performance with his recall of old school songs like Get Up, Stand up and Rock, X-Rated, Bed Wuk. Shabba left the stage and was called back twice. He continued his set with Wicked inna Bed, Gal Yu Good, Telephone Love, Mr Lover Man, Twice My Age, among others. Shabba was yet again called back to the stage for a special Jamaica 50 award presenation from the Sumfest promoters and the Government of Jamaica. Joining him for the honor, was his wife Michelle Gordon and his two sons.
The buzz on Saturday was over R. Kelly’s performance, which was highly anticipated due to his absence last year. A.J. Brown, one of Jamaica’s greatest vocal talents, spanning from Reggae to Jazz, World Beat to R & B, Pop to Classical did not get the time to transend genres, and musical eras. He rocked the place with the funky Real Rock, closing his set with My Father, My Friend. His latest CD For all Kinda People, is a winner.
Arriving over what seemed like one hour late, R. Kelly had to warm up to his audience before he received their love. This he attempted by performing a meddley of songs which include Hotel and Wonderful. He received a huge ovation after performing Snake and recoginzing the old school R. Kelly fans. He performed Strip and invited an admirer to remove his shoes, a prelude to the act.
Kelly knew that his Jamaican audience were die hard fans when they sang along word for word as he performed hits from the period of the early 1990s until 2000. ‘Nasty’ tunes like Your Body’s Calling and Slow Wine were performed before the remix of Ignition and Fiesta. When Kelly began to perform I Believe I Can Fly, one of his biggest hits, he seemed to have metamorphosed into a Genie and floated across the stage. There was a point where he halted before singing the chorus; he then looked at the audience and pointed the microphone towards them and they sang his song with great satisfaction.
Damian Marley aka Junior Gong gave a superb performance, worthy of the son of our own Reggae icon, Bob Marley. His presence and delivery were surreal reminders of his legendary father. Marley gave his adoring audience tunes they wanted to hear, such as: The Mission, Move, Affairs of the Heart, It Was Written, and Could you be Loved, a tribute to his father.
Damian Marley with flowing locks at Reggae Sumfest 2012
He returned after an encore and closed the show with Welcome to JamRock, an anthem of sorts, which was greeted with thunderous applause. I join my colleague Janet Silvera, Senior Gleaner Reporter in saying that Damian Marley’s performance “was one of the greatest performances at Reggae Sumfest ever.”
R Kelley performing at Reggae Sumfest
This year’s Reggae Sumfest will be remembered especially for its recognition of long time musical legends and icons during its 20th year, which is also the year of Jamaica 50th anniversary. Can you imagine the musical legacy that Reggae Sumfest has amassed over the years? Would it not be awesome to have such a video as a Collector’s item? According to Robert Russell, “we plan to do a video looking back at the last 20 yrs.” That, Mr. Russell, would be a wonderful treasure for the national and public domain. Thank you Reggae Sumfest team for a very special and memorable festival!
