By Chaos, Freelance Writer
Fahrenheit, left, celebrates with Carlos of Carlos' Cafe at 'Late Show at Carlos' Cafe', a birthday party held for the proprietor of the 22 Belmont Road, St. Andrew nightspot last Saturday. - Ian Allen/Staff Photographer
CARLOS OF Carlos' Café celebrated his birthday last Saturday at the cafe's location at 22 Belmont Road in St. Andrew. Billed 'Late Show at Carlos' Café', the event got of to a relatively slow start at 8 p.m. as people, singles, couples and groups strolled in to take advantage of the free drinks in the ultimate happy hour, which actually lasted until 10 p.m.
They played pool, watched television or merely sat around and chatted until things got into gear. As they did so, deejay Mark started off things in a slow groove, playing songs such as the Bee Gees' How Deep Is Your Love, Up Where We Belong by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes, Air Supply's All Out Of Love and Blue Bayou by Linda Ronstadt.
The café's staff had certainly set the mood, with the odd little fountain, nice lighting, decorated tables and were quick on the ball when it came to filling the orders of the rapidly growing crowd. Although never being totally packed, by 11 p.m. there was a more than decent turnout at the cafe, especially at the bar even after there were no more free drinks as the deejay shifted into some 'old school' reggae with songs such as Dennis Brown's Money In My Pocket.
In one corner, a trio of attractive ladies insisted on being included in a pool game already in progress. One of the young ladies declared that she was drunk and proved that she was at least somewhat tipsy as she missed shot after shot on the table, while her shorter but no less attractive friend did manage to sink a few balls. The third decided not to get involved. The trio also took photographs or had photographs of them taken in various sexy poses, while the 'tipsy' and tall one was always leaving something behind, be it her camera or a handbag.
Deejay Mark had turned to pop, playing Billy Ocean's Caribbean Queen over the ever-increasing din of chatter courtesy of the patrons present, before switching to Gregory Isaac's Night Nurse. He interrupted once to announce "Guess who we have here! Tanya Blackburn!" (Malynne Walton of Royal Palm Estate). The young lady in question took the microphone and wished the man of the night 'Happy Birthday' before heading to the VIP section of the cafe, where she was joined by Gordon Scott of the band Soul Case and artist Kristina Newman, among others.
At around 11:25 p.m. Terrence 'Fahrenheit' Harold took to the stage to start off the night's entertainment by singing a song a capella in honour of Carlos. "Hey you! People over the pool table! Yeah, got to get your attention," he said before calling for the billed co-hosts for 'Late Show', comedians Christopher Daley and Donald Anderson. After being told that the duo needed a minute or two, he decided to share some of his thoughts with the audience, proving his skill at 'freestyling' spontaneously.
The two, when they appeared, delivered an amusing set, starting with their personal and hilarious version of the dance the 'Wave' which looked like a man trying to save himself from drowning by doing an inept backstroke while standing up.
Then, to the sounds of Wayne Marshall's Overcome, they proceeded to spoof the ladies at dancehall events who hog the 'videolight', much to the delight of the crowd. "A mi alone watch dancehall pon cable?" Daley asked to applause. "A one ting identify hot gyal yuh know - bandy leg," he said, going on to say "An e haffi bandy proper," going on to give a demonstration which had many in stitches. He then mimicked one such 'hot gyal' at a session, to even more laughter from the audience. The practice of 'bleaching' also came under scrutiny and personalities such as Prime Minister P.J. Patterson, deejay Elephant Man, Senior Superintendent Reneto Adams and even a pastor did not escape their scathing wit.
After a paint-related joke, the duo closed by asking the deejay to play the song Andy. After finding out that he did not know the song, they decided to perform it themselves, walking off the stage singing an' he walked with me an' he talked with me to applause from an appreciative audience.
Fahrenheit then retook to the stage and sang good versions of On My Way Without You and the Isley Brother's Always Come Back To You before delivering a song from his upcoming album Port Antonio Virgin, My Lover Has A Problem. He then called up Carlos and demanded a song. Instead, Carlos asked "They say yuh come from uptown but yuh live Downtown, how dat work? Yuh a camouflage dread," to more laughter. After a few abortive attempts to get Andru Donalds and Brian Gold, both of whom who were present, to join him on-stage, Fahrenheit sang a version of Overcome before 'bigging up' Wayne Marshall and his 'conscious' lyrics, declaring 'much love' for those present and thanking Carlos and his family for the 12 years they kept him "...under their wing."
That effectively brought an end to the live entertainment on the night and opening the dance floor. After midnight there was a free buffet which was kept busy, serving perfectly done roast beef, pasta which went down well with a tomato-based sauce and rice and peas. The piece de resistance however, was the cake, which was cut later by Carlos, his sister Sophie Max-Brown and two others and tasted incredible. The deejay took the party into the wee hours of the morning, playing reggae, dancehall, '80s pop and practically everything in-between, bringing the 'Late Show' to an early morning close.
