By Chaos, Freelance Writer'RED STRIPE Reggae Sumfest 2003' was brought to a close last Saturday night into the wee hours of Sunday morning with the staging of 'International Night' at the festival's main venue, Catherine Hall in Montego Bay, St. James.
Most of the performances for the night were way above par and occasionally bordered on excellent, but the reactions of various sections of the bumper crowd varied.
The event started dead on time at 9 p.m. with emcees Francoise St. Juste and Paula-Ann Porter smoothly filling their roles. A string of attention-grabbing performances preceded the appearance of Sean Paul, with anticipation thickening the more imminent his appearance became.
Suddenly the large stage area became dark and the strains of Also Sprach Zarathustra (the theme from 2001:A Space Odyssey) thumped from the enormous speakers. Screams and fireworks rose into the air. Two dancers, one male, appeared, and then the man himself. The screams at the front of the venue were deafening. With 'hype man' 'Jig Zag' and Fahrenheit in tow, he immediately launched into Gimme De Light. A string of past and present hits followed with the assistance of tracks in addition to his band as did a tribute to reggae greats of the past in the form of Peter Tosh's Steppin' Razor.
However, the deejay seemed to have an agenda or two and was definitely intent on getting the crowd to respond, one way or another. He sweated buckets as he jumped from the main stage to a camera man's platform, extorted "Jamaica leggo yuh pride an' jump", threw in some profanity to a few raised eyebrows and,
as it turns out, the displeasure of the police and even took time out to make eye contact with his mother and say "Mummy love you mum."
He proclaimed his work as an ambassador for his country, as well as his love for it, more than once. Some were entranced and screaming, others surprised and a few, bored during his 45-minute stint on-stage.
After a band change, Destiny's Child, the main international headliner, got to the stage at 1:50 a.m. Their entrance was preceded by fireworks and a video montage of the girls to almost operatic music. A large swirl of smoke cleared to see the group posed on a raised section of the stage and again, the screams were deafening.
Independent Women: Part Two started off the set and many women became an instant choir as they sang along. Utilising solely tracks the only act on the night to do so the ladies of Destiny's Child went into their sexy and energetic choreographed routines with verve, Kelly taking the lead early in exhorting the crowd. Beyoncé would later take over the reins as they marched seamlessy through their string of hits from their multiple-platinum albums with very little in the way of breaks.
Each group member also performed, solo, a song or two from their independent releases, Sean Paul making a cameo to perform an 'up close and personal' Baby Boy with Beyoncé before bouncing around on the stage.
Fireworks were a regular occurrence as Beyoncé worked the crowd, smiling, and they all danced before their stint ended with Survivor and huge blasts of confetti and streamers flying into the crowd.
Third World closed 'International Night', but not before Beenie Man performed, his presence attracting as many and as loud screams as those who had preceded him. His set consisted mainly of snippets from mostly his later songs and 'collaborations' with Baby Cham, Kitty Paw and a seven-year-old rapper called 'QT' as well as dancers such as 'Cripple', 62-year-old 'Labba Labba' and John Hype and his crew at times appearing to be quite rude.
Dance demonstrations aside, he also took time out to hit out against homosexuality and oral sex as well as apparently freestyling a string of lyrics which were loudly approved of seemingly unable to put a foot wrong.
Red Stripe Reggae Sumfest's 'International Night' was supremely-organised and also featured performances from Lydia Bennett, the Japanese Pushim and Moomin, Tanto and Devonte, Kamau, I'ngel Chanta and TOK.
Look out for details about their performances this week in The Gleaner and The Star.
