Frankie Paul in full flight. - Michael Sloley photos
FRANKIE PAUL literally brought the house down, as he stole the spotlight at the Heineken Startime show on Saturday night. It was held at the Mas Camp Village in New Kingston.
The singer by far outshone the other five performers, as he went through an act which had the audience moving from start to finish.
The show, billed 'Living Legends 2001' saw a huge turnout of patrons who were evidently satisfied with what they had received. Even after the show, some seemed reluctant to leave the venue.
Songbird Judi Emanuel opened the show with some well sung cover hits. She presented a fine set that brought the patrons alive and rocking and set the pace for what would be a night to remember.
Next up was Stranjah Cole. He seemed to entertain the audience more with his dancing rather than his singing, but nevertheless he was well-received. In a yellow three-piece-suit, Cole danced up a storm as some members of the audience urged him on.
In between songs Stranjah stopped and talked to the audience, which did not mind at first but later urged him to do less talking. Cole was followed by the 'forever young' Derrick Harriot who, within seconds of entering the stage, had the crowd rocking away. Harriot churned out hits like I'll Be There, Sugar Dandy, Born To Love You, I Was Checking Out (She Was Checking In), Stop That Train, It's A Long Story and What Can I Do.
The manner in which he dished out the songs was the same in which the audience received them. A the end of his set, Derrick Harriot was given tumultuous applause and presented with a 'Living Legend' award for four decades of contribution to music by Keith Brown of MKB Productions, the show's promoters.
Frankie Paul entered after a 30-minute break. Doing his traditional "Owww", he was assisted on to the stage and then all hell broke loose. For more than 30 minutes, Mr. Paul soared through a medley of songs including Cassanova, Head To Toe, We've Only Just Begun and Sarah, among others. He had the patrons jumping, singing, waving, shouting, screaming, dancing and doing anything and everything else that can be done to music.
As if that wasn't enough, Frankie Paul found second gear as he told the audience about a girl he knows named Alicia, who he told to Slow Down because he Knows The Score. He then told them there would be a Tidal Wave which would cause Worries In The Dance.
The singer then moved to another level with Have You Ever and Kushumpeng, then showed the sweaty, agile patrons his versatility when he began deejaying and did some rapping before leaving the stage.
But the crowd would have none of it.
They kept singing until he returned and gave them Fire Deh a Muss Muss Tail. If it was up to the crowd, Frankie Paul would have stayed on-stage all night, but he had to exit and they reluctantly let him go.
Pat Kelly and the Techniques, who followed, gave a good set. Although they got some good crowd response, it was evident they were victims of the high standard left by Frankie Paul as they could not keep the crowd on the high he left it. A few of their songs, namely, How I Wish it Would Rain, Officially and I'm In the Mood For Love went well with the crowd.
By the time Bob Andy took the stage, some of the patrons had started to trickle out of the venue. However, the bulk remained and Andy entertained them. He belted out tunes such as You Are Still My Honey, Check It Out, Fire Burning, Too Experienced, and I've Got To Go Back Home, among others. After being presented with an award similar to that received by Derrick Harriot, he called Marcia Griffiths on-stage to do a number, much to the delight of the remaining patrons.
The emcee for the night was Don Topping.
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