Night of great performances
A mixture of youthful exuberance and elder statesmanship made for a night of entertainment at Saturday’s staging of Western Consciousness at the Montego Bay Sports Complex in St James.
Big Youth was awesome and displayed agility that went down well. As one female patron remarked as the pioneering DJ strutted his stuff. “Is him originate swag. Look how him a move like a young boy.”
Big Youth held nothing back as he bombarded the event with his Every Nigger Is A Star, Lion In The Jungle and I Pray Thee, among others.
His younger counterpart Rodney Pryce took the baton and sprinted with it well.
Apparently shedding his Angry, Cross and Miserable persona and conducting himself in a manner befitting Western Consciousness, Pryce was absolutely flawless and left his adoring fans well pleased.
It was absolutely joyous to see Pryce concentrate on entertaining his audience.
Marcia Griffiths is in a class by herself.
She electrified the venue with her suave dance moves and silky smooth vocals.
Mutabaruka added a difference to the night and his dub poetry was well received. Poor Johnny, The sound, The System and The Monkey Speaks His Mind all went down well with the audience.
Other great performances came from a sublime Cherine Anderson, John Holt, the revolutionary I-Wayne, Ibar Mar, a smooth Horace Andy, the British Invasion led by King Sounds, Luciano and a riveting Everton Blender.
If there was a downside to Western Consciousness it was the fact that too many acts were billed for the show and this resulted in some performers cutting their sets short and the non- performances of Cocoa Tea and Romain Virgo — two guaranteed crowd pleasers.