By Mel Cooke, Freelance Writer
Maxi Priest far left, and Red Fox, far right, on-stage at 'Enchantingly Close to You' at Montego Bay's Club Inferno in St James on Saturday night. - Contributed
WESTERN BUREAU:
MAXI PRIEST lived up to the billing 'Enchantingly Close to You' at Montego Bay's Club Inferno on Saturday night, in St. James.
He got very close to the audience, at one point standing on a front row chair and co-ordinating a sing-a-long; he got close to the ladies, cocking an ear to their screams and hugging the four who joined him on-stage for House Call; he nearly blew a gasket on a note longer than Carl Hooper's series-losing streak, commenting 'A kill dem waan kill me' after mock staggering.
After 80 minutes of music and a whiff of militancy, along with Redd Foxx in superb deejaying form, Maxi Priest came breathtakingly close to putting on a perfect show.
Unfortunately, there were not many people inside Club Inferno to get close to Maxi Priest. At a 'Joshua' for the privilege and, calendar event 'Western Consciousness' on in Savanna-la-Mar for half that amount, not enough people turned out to make it a proper crowd. With seating only in the VIP section, there was some grumbling about a 'grand stand'.
A very late start, the Groove Galore band playing the 'Bam Bam' rhythm at nearly 10:30 p.m. to start the event, did not help.
However, from the opening note it was clear that the wait and expense were well worth it. Groove Galore made a 'close call' of their own as, exquisite, enthralling variations apart, they sounded like a four-man CD player reeling out familiar rhythms.
The male-female Duo and Dean Stephens preceded Maxi Priest. Duo opened with Power To Move You, the bald, bopping, close-fitting pants chuckling male half of the team having enough stage charm to move a comatose classical music fan. Try Jah Love, the slow I'm Your Angel, a rocking steady Perfidia and grooving She's Still Loving Me made for a strong showing.
Dean Stephens worked up a sweat with Ain't No Stopping Us Now, the appropriate Groove Tonight and hooked his engine to the caboose of the Love Train. Coming down to get really close with Let's Get It On, Dean Stevens earned huge applause, while the audience bounced along with him, tooted and 'beep beeped' on the following R&B hit.
REGGAE SECTION
His reggae section began with Who The Cap Fits and ended with Shine Eye Gal, a superb lift in his voice as he sang 'waan come take we fi fool' in Crazy Baldhead.
With the gate prize of a mask by Philip Amboleke Henry, whose work was on display at the venue, out of the way, it was time for Maxi Priest. The somewhat scattered audience drew closer together on Maxine Miller's request and, Groove Galore sounding even better, if that was possible, the stage was set for the man with the fun.
Entering from the rear of the stage, that is exactly what Maxi Priest gave.
His waist-length locks in stark relief against a crisp white shirt and wrap-around glasses giving a peekaboo look at his eyes, Maxi Priest opened with Man With The Fun, Redd Foxx in on the action early as the singer became the dancer. Ending by flashing his head up and back, his glasses went to his forehead and his hair extended his height by three feet momentarily.
"There may be few of us, but we going to party tonight," Maxi Priest said.
On Just A Little Bit Longer, he came down the steps for the first of several times, hugging a lady who stood to dance with him. A tremendous guitar solo led to a resounding crescendo by Groove Galore, and then Maxi Priest held an insanely long note to send the ladies screaming.
'PULL UP'
Wild World earned the first 'pull up' of the night. However, when Maxi Priest asked the ladies to scream, a man dared to insert his baritone in the matter. Priest chided him good-naturedly. "When I say ladies, I don't want to hear no man voice. It soun' funny, an' we no inna de funny ting," he said. A hail to the men, a 'blessed' to the Rastafarians, a greeting in the name of the Most High and a respect to all religions preceded the restart. Wild World ended with a mass peace sign and a double-handed blown kiss from Maxi Priest.
"With all the mess going on in the world today, with Iraq and Mr. Bush... It is so sad to call him Mr. Bush. I won't say the rest," he introduced Say A Prayer For The World. A hush fell over the audience as he sang the heartfelt plea. Marvin Gaye's What's Going On continued in the same vein.
A false start of That Girl showed his poise. "One of us started the wrong tune. Run it again. That's the beauty of life, music, an' we naa tek back nutten," he quipped, sitting on a railing. With Redd Foxx sounding amazingly like Shaggy, the jam began and continued into House Call, where Foxx stood in for Shabba Ranking and a new song Are You Ready, where the Foxx was all himself.
Close to You, complete with a chant of 'We come to party' featured an extensive run by Redd Foxx, in which he flashed different styles and a multitude of lyrics. The crowd took over on the chorus and Maxi Priest coached the song down to the end with the saxophonist.
A R&B 'brawta number' brought 'Enchantingly Close To You' to a smooth halt.
Redd Foxx battled a temperamental microphone all night, but some adroit switching kept the show on track.
