By Chaos, Freelance Writer
Tessanne Chin, lead singer of Mile High, performing at Tentcity last Wednesday. - Contributed
THE OCCASION was a celebration of the Tentcity's relaunch and relocation from 29 Lady Musgrave Road to 35 Windsor Avenue, both in St. Andrew, last Wednesday night.
On entering the new venue, two things struck you at once. First off, there were these great white tents - even the entrance was marked by one - which makes sense for a company whose motto is 'For All-Intents And Purposes'. Secondly, and even more strikingly, was the sheer number of buffet tables everywhere. Seemingly, practically everywhere the eye came to rest there was a table with either food or drink, and not in small quantities either.
Aside and even better than the food and drink was the entertainment. There was a 'Who's Who' of people from the less-beaten area of Jamaica's entertainment scene present, many of whom who took to the stage.
Della Manley, Wayne McGregor and Omar Francis - Suzanne Couch was also present - all preceded Mickey Hanson and the After Six band, which saw Hanson on the trumpet and Richie Cunningham on the congos. They entertained with what MC Royden 'Royale' Lewis called 'adult contemporary' music, which featured a mix of light jazz and pop.
Royale himself was next on-stage. However, the flight attendant with Air Jamaica showed off his skills as an MC when technical difficulties beset his backing band for the moment, Mile High. With bassist Jason Morris - and his instrument - temporarily off-stage, Royale was forced to - and succeeded at - keeping those present from becoming bored with a steady stream of amusing chatter. He was helped out of his predicament by Andrew 'Preggs' Thompson and his drums, much like he did at 'Moonlighting' on the Devon House lawns a few months ago. Preggs did amazing with his instrument, much to the delight of those present.
SIDELINES
Difficulties fixed and Morris back in place, Royale began his set. First was the rock/dancehall hybrid Prado. As an indication of how effective the song was, three young men whose inclination normally was clearly not towards anything from the school of rock went crazy on the sidelines, 'gunfingers' in the air with the appropriate sound effects.
The up-and-coming deejay followed up with a lesson for those who might have a problem satisfying their better halves. Love Specialist took a one-two-three approach with something of a pop feel and was just as effective. He closed by introducing his last song with these words, among others - "It took 20 years for a guy to reply to that song. I am that guy." I Will Survive, the wonderfully twisted reply to the Gloria Gaynor classic, was even more wildly received by the gentlemen on the sideline - not to mention everyone else, with Paul Chang on the guitar going absolutely cuckoo to close out the number.
Royale then reverted to MC status and introduced what he called his family the band Mile High.
When they are at the top of their game, Mile High is like a force of Nature unstoppable. Every band member exemplified this last Wednesday, but especially so the lead singer, Tessanne Chin. With her long hair billowing, she was in constant motion throughout the opening number, Anouk's Everything.
POSSESSED
Nickelback's song of tragedy, Someday, Somehow was among the selections, Tessanne channelling Chad Kroeger despite the latter's continued presence on this plane of existence like a medium par excellence. Chang on lead guitar played like he was possessed, sweating and fingers moving as if on acid, wringing out riffs that thrilled. The slower Black Books (R U Gonna Love Me) followed, Tessanne's long locks quite often obscuring her face as she controlled the stage.
What was supposed to close the set was their show-stopping version of Bob Marley's Could You Be Loved. The number's introduction saw Chang and Morris bounding feet into the air while ripping out powerful chords and Preggs hands becoming a blur of motion while Tessanne delivered to a stunned and adoring crowd.
Brushing aside calls of 'More' for the time being Gibson, who also functions as the band's manager took time out to thank everyone present and called on-stage the members of the 'Tentcity family'. A hilarious and abortive attempt at We Are The World came before Mile High's encore, which consisted of Evanescence's Bring Me To Life and another original, Soothsayer.
Wayne McGregor brought the nights proceedings to a close with a heartfelt rendition of Puddle of Mudd's Blurry, being joined by Richie 'Steven' Patterson on the keyboard, and a good night was had by all.
