By Chaos, Freelance WriterIT MIGHT be unfair to say that Half Pint was the top performer at Tuesday's edition of 'RE Unplugged', but he certainly got the most enthusiastic crowd response. People went crazy when he began with Greetings, jumping up and down, and in no way calmed downed as he proceeded through a catalogue which included hits such as Winsome.
Half Pint was the final performer at the latest RE Unplugged, held at Weekenz Bar and Bistro on Constant Spring Road, St. Andrew, coming after excellent sets by Brian and Tony Gold, Nadine Sutherland, Lydia Bennett and interesting ones from poets such as Steppa and Ginsu.
The biggest and most common problem for the night was the sound system, which provided feedback at will, and some of the speakers cut out without as much as a by your leave. Despite this, all the performers managed to put on a show which should leave all those who were not there ruing a missed chance.
Lydia Bennett opened the programme with a four-song set, two covers and two originals. The first song, Bryan Adams' Heaven, started off as a rock piece, Andrew 'Preggs' Thompson on drums, Richie Folkes on the keyboard, Rupert Bent III on bass and Wayne McGregor on lead guitar doing a wonderful job to provide a music mix which was absolutely stunning. Heaven, after McGregor and Bent laid down some riffs to die for, segued into a reggae version which was just as sweet, despite the feedback and the failing speakers.
SEXY BEYOND BELIEF
Bennett, in an off-black lace top and a pair of lame gold Capri pants, was sexy beyond belief and was especially good on her last song, an original written with Preggs called So Amazing, which features musicianship above and beyond the call of duty. Sandwiched between the two were a cover of Norah Jones' Don't Know Why and another original, Reason To Believe, both of which went down just as well.
Poet Steppa was up next and he was ... well, loud. "Listen to Steppa!" he chanted constantly throughout two pieces, one about his woman and the next about the state of music in Jamaica today. Somewhat reminiscent of DYCR, he was to an extent effective and ... well, loud.
Rapper/poet Ginsu followed, but he found himself incapable of dealing with the sound problems that plagued the night and left the stage in disgust after two abortive attempts at telling the audience of the New World Order.
Jack Radics put in a surprise guest appearance and was in excellent form, his voice just as rich and effective as it was over 10 years ago. With just support on-stage coming from Rupert Bent III in an acoustic set, Radics had the ladies screaming with a plethora of hits, including Hot Chocolate's Sexy Thing with was dedicated to Bent's wife Michelle and Twist and Shout.
Nadine Sutherland, with three back-up singers and a two-man band one drummer and an acoustic guitarist followed, and performed in the true unplugged spirit, seated and keeping it simple. In fact, at one point she stated that she was finding it difficult not to get up and dance, audience members yelling that she should do just that. As Radics did earlier she also made mention of Shocking Vibes executive and deejay Beenie Man's tour manager Paul Tyrell, who had been killed not far from Weekenz that same night, before singing an original ironically about a childhood friend named Paul who was killed after falling into 'bad company'.
This followed a moment of silence requested by MC Connie Bell in honour of the slain entertainment executive.
Sutherland's set was a crowd pleaser, a mixture of the old and the new and she impressed throughout, but especially when she filled in for deejay Terror Fabulous on Action, the crowd providing the 'Madhouse' refrain with glee.
It was more fun and games - and technical problems - when Brian and Tony Gold appeared on-stage, following Nadine Sutherland. The duo was also a hit as they exchanged lead singer duties or harmonised on a mixture of original material and covers that enthralled, despite the almost constant feedback whines. The duo's friend, actress Donisha Prendergast, was a source of entertainment all by herself, going so wild in the audience one could be forgiven for thinking she had never seen the two perform live before (she has).
Tony went solo on Have I Told You Lately? and Brian on an abbreviated version There's No Easy Way To Break Somebody's Heart, amid songs such as All We Need Is Love and One In A Million done for an appreciative crowd.
A poet named Ragga popped up to do Naked Fashion and another piece about people who watch people with binoculars and may not have realised that the applause that greeted the end of his set was relief to see him go, as opposed to appreciation anything he had said.
That minor glitch aside, it was hard to imagine the night getting any better, but it did. Half Pint stepped up and, long dreadlocks flowing, delivered in fine style. Songs such as Greetings, Winsome, Mr. Landlord, No Substitute Lover and Level The Vibes created havoc at Weekenz and the crowd did not want him to leave, which he eventually did after an encore, pleading that he had not done that many rehearsals.
After listening to him and his backing band one could only be grateful for what rehearsals they did get done, because this was Half Pint at his finest.
