By Tyrone Reid, Staff Reporter
Reggae stalwart Freddie McGregor gives a million-dollar performance at Buzz Productions', 'To Mom With Love', which was held on the lawns of Kings House on Sunday night. - Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer
REGGAE MUSIC veteran of 40 years, Freddie McGregor turned in a timeless performance at Buzz Productions' To Mom With Love, which was held on the lawns of Kings House on Hope Road, St. Andrew, on Sunday night.
Quite frankly, Mr. McGregor's performance was the only one that walked anywhere near paying homage to mothers on a day that is designated to do the same. Freddie pulled off a million-dollar performance. His song selection coupled with less talking and more singing did the job.
The legendary singer jumped and skanked across the stage and showed that the signs of ageing were only present in his beard. Freddie's performance lasted for almost an hour, however there was evidence that he could have gone on for much longer.
In his early segment he delivered hits such as To Be Poor Is A Crime, When Push Comes To Shove and Big Ship amongst many others. At this point patrons were still filing into the venue and those that were already settled in could not resist rocking to the sounds of the veteran crooner.
Later on Freddie treated the fans to delicacies such as Let Them Try and Loving Pauper. He also paid tribute to the late Dennis Brown with renditions of Here I Come and Revolution.
He exited at 8:21 p.m. but there was a request for an encore by MCs Paula Ann Porter and Patrick Lafayette, to which the audience agreed. The singer conceded and performed a few more tracks before attempting to exit again. However, once again he was 'handcuffed' by the MCs and brought back to centre stage.
ACCOLADES
This time around however it was not for another encore but rather for accolades to be bestowed upon him for his lengthy tenure in the music business. The singer was presented with memorabilia from the directors of Buzz Productions at the end of a speech made by Paula Ann Porter.
The helm of the 'big ship' was then turned over to Johnny Gill at 8:46 p.m. The famed singer, formerly of the group New Edition, came to the fore decked in a white shirt and black leather trousers and quickly learnt how hard-nosed a Jamaican crowd can be.
Gill had to work hard for every dollar he was paid by the promoters. At the beginning of his performance most of the audience was not behind him. However, throughout the course of the night, three things were learnt about the singer. One, for a man he screams a lot. The other two are that he is a very experienced and persistent performer.
After reeling off a few songs that were foreign to most of the people present, Johnny stood hand akimbo and stared intently at the audience and moreover the task that stood before him arousing the audience. From time to time he sort of pleaded with the audience to try to have a good time.
VERSED PERFORMER
Nonetheless the versed performer danced and sang enthusiastically until the audience rallied in his favour.
The change in the audience's behaviour was induced by Johnny's rendition of Half Crazy and his decision to pay homage to some legendary singers.
One lady got ballistic and started to act as if she was being plagued by an army of bees. That same lady was subsequently summoned to the stage. The scenes that played out on the stage between Johnny and the fan were somewhat inappropriate for a Mother's Day show.
After delivering one of his most popular hits, My, My, My and giving out a garden of roses, the singer subsequently exited at 9:57 p.m.
Next up were The Isley Brothers, comprised of lead singer Ron and guitarist Ernie. They immediately picked up where Johnny left off. They proved their seniority as a performer and delivered their set with ultimate ease.
