Musical magic at Romain Virgo and Friends on Mother’s Day
Published:Wednesday | May 14, 2025 | 12:06 AMYasmine Peru/Senior Gleaner Writer
When Mother’s Day meets Romain Virgo it’s ‘pure niceness’, and it is a wonder that Hope Gardens in St Andrew is still intact after the numerous ‘tun ovas’ it experienced on Sunday when the Good Woman singer and his friends brought their A-game to a night of musical delights.
Romain was at the venue from early, dressed down in promoter mode, and seemed to flick a switch as he jumped into snazzy stage garments — which appeared to fit him a tiny bit less snug that what fans are used to — and, cool, suave and smiling, he graced the stage at 9:23 p.m. and took the concert to the next level.
It should be mentioned here that Mortimer, who just completed an European tour with Romain, performed right before him and the Rastafarian singer was full of lyrics, sending “love to every mother in the house and my wife, the mother of my four kids”. The Lightning singer entertained with a full set and closed out the first section of the show, which seamlessly transitioned to Romain in a dual role as headline act and host — taking over from Jade .
He opened his set riding old-school riddims, evoking memories of the great Alton Ellis, while succinctly showing that he is indeed the Beres Hammond heir apparent, or the future of reggae music, as many of his friends testified on stage.
At 9:35 p.m., Romain’s friend, Reggae Queen Marcia Griffiths, turned up and Hope Gardens ‘tun ova’ as fans erupted in a frenzy on seeing her, partly because Romain had kept his line-up a secret. They duetted on All my Life, and it was absolutely beautiful. Live On and Dreamland were equally well received, and a gracious Griffiths exited centre stage with fans wanting more.
They got more in the form of Romain singing their favourites, such as Love Doctor and Don’t You Remember, and the appearance of Ghost, who was certainly no apparition. Honestly, Ghost’s performance deserves an entire story. The veteran singer, whose outfit was a nod to King of Pop Michael Jackson, danced, crooned, breathed, sighed and scratched his way into the hearts of the screaming ‘Virgonation’ females.
“Now ...that’s entertainment,” a young female fan said, enthralled at the erotic drama unfolding on stage as Ghost sang Do You Believe, Bodyguard, and Nothing at All. A male in the audience, however, wasn’t so charitable. “A wha’ him a gwaan so fah? Mosquito a bite him up?” he asked, giving Ghost the side-eye treatment.
Thanking Romain for inviting him to perform and hailing him as the “future of reggae”, Ghost disappeared from the stage. In full Mother’s Day mode, Romain sang for his own mother, who was seated side of stage with his wife, and paid tribute to all the Good Woman out there, asking fans to do the ‘Good Woman’ wave.
When Omi arrived at 10:12 p.m. singing Cheerleader and Hula Hoop, the Virgonation, as Romain’s fans are called, welcomed him with open arms. ‘Mr Singie Singie’ himself, Tarrus Riley, got special treatment, and part of that could have been due to his sparkling, diamond-encrusted belt, which was really loud. But the screams of approval were even louder and when Tarrus touched She’s Royal, with Dean Fraser on sax, the venue ‘tun ova’ again, and the Hope Gardens Choir took it away. He never needed to finish singing even the first line. Among Tarrus’ cheerleaders were his wife, daughter and other members of the Riley clan.
Richie Spice continued the series of surprise guest artistes, and there is a back story. Romain shared that while going to school, Richie Spice’s Earth a Run Red was his anthem, and his excitement at having the artiste was contagious. Richie also performed his smash hits, Brown Skin and Groovin’ my Girl. Capleton brought the fire that ‘tun ova’ Hope Gardens again, and he also had a sober message: “Don’t kill the women because when you do that yuh kill creation; don’t kill the kids ... yuh kill the future.” Agent Sasco sealed up a night of revelry, with patrons agreeing that they had received more than their money’s worth.
To start the show on a solid footing, Torre Lattore and Janiel Mills, both of whom are backing vocalists for Romain, delighted with separate sets, after which a svelte Sevana sweetly strutted her stuff.
“Sunday night was amazing,” an ecstatic Romain told The Gleaner. “It certainly exceeded my expectations. I knew that the people would come out, but when I got on stage ... as far as my eyes could see, it was just people. It made the night truly special because it showed that people really wanted to celebrate our mothers. I saw from the children to the great-grandmother. It was truly a blessing and a big success for me and my entire team. I know that people travelled from all over Jamaica to see the show and I am forever grateful.”
He shared that with the continued support of his fans and some love from corporate Jamaica, Romain Virgo and Friends will definitely become an annual event.