RESIDENTS AND visitors to Port Antonio seeking a place to be entertained now have the Nautica nightclub, located at the Marina, Port Antonio. As far as fancy gadgetry is concerned, Nautica is an exception. It is a bare bones kind of facility, cooled by the salty breeze from the Caribbean Sea with incredible vibes.On a recent visit to Nautica, there was a full house comprised mainly of residents of Port Antonio. People of different colour, class, religious backgrounds and political persuasions danced until the morning sun greeted what was a night of frenetic activity.
This venue seems poised to become the focus of many stage shows and entertainment activities as it has good security arrangements in place.
We stayed up until the early morning of December 27 to see Shaggy's interview on the 'Tonight Show' with Jay Leno and we were not disappointed.
The Jamaican performer, who is currently riding high with his hit single It Wasn't Me from the Hot Shot album, showed class, control and humour in a rather short interview which promoted Jamaica heavily.
Shaggy is an artiste who is well aware of the value of promotion. He has been doing many shows for radio and television with the understanding that he has to set a foundation if he wants his music to sell.
This is not understood by many artistes who believe that if they are not getting cash in hand, they should not bother themselves. Hats off to Shaggy and his manager Robert Livingston for a job well done.
Sting, which had been suffering over the years from a number of negatives, not the least of which was the notable no show of Mase a few years ago, is definitely on the road to recovery.
What has been dubbed "the biggest one-night reggae show in the world" certainly delivered on its promise with DMX, considered by many to be the hottest hip hop act in the world, notwithstanding Eminem.
Tony Laing and his crew at Supreme Promotions, organisers of Sting, should be congratulated for pulling this off. Before the show many were asking whether DMX was going to come. Now we know it was no joke.
And speaking of Sting, the biggest winner of this spectacle, apart from Supreme Promotions' organisational skills, must be Merciless, the DJ who has taken unto himself the epithet, 'Warhead'.
The DJ, who many thought had gone into oblivion, gave apt demonstration to the maxim "Wha nuh ded, no throw weh".
With his renewal, Merciless has brought back into prominence one of the highlights of Sting, which is the clash among artistes.
Clearly there are many who will argue about the wisdom of this combative style of entertainment, but then people have been drawn to some bizarre modes of enjoying themselves such as boxing and bull fighting.
Artistes who keep the bantering to verbal sparing can sometimes bring energy to the entertainment business. However, the jabbing must be handled carefully as it can turn ugly, especially among misguided followers of the artistes.
There are two developments in the American media, which could have a possible impact on Jamaica music, though to what extent we are not yet sure. Two entities have decided to programme reggae music exclusively to their listeners. They are XM and Sirius, both of which are satellite broadcast entities.
That such entities have decided to have our music in their programming format suggests something positive, though major benefits might not be derived immediately as satellite radio use is still in its infancy and in many cases not technologically compatible with terrestrial broadcast receivers.
We will just have to wait and see how quickly this new technology becomes readily available and accepted, as it would have serious long term implications for our music.
