Yup, today is one of the greatest days of my life. Why? I caught 13 fish! Oh to some people this may be no big deal but after years of going out to sea and coming back with one and two ticky ticky, this is a major achievement. To add insult to injury (not mine), the fisherman who took us out caught 4 and my big fisherman bother Bernie, 3. Heh heh. What a day as I reeled them in by the minute as they looked on enviously.
This was the grand finale to a great musical weekend. at Sumfest 2011.
As my grandson Shadrach was here for the summer, he and his friend Kristof came with us to Sumfest. Things did not get off to a dignified start for as I sat in my China made chair I dropped to the ground. Very embarrassing. This was a sturdy looking chair made from aluminum and canvas but proving once again that " a chain is as strong as the weakest link' for while the chair was sturdy, the thread that sewed it was rotten and it was clean break. Bernie had the exact same chair and his broke about an hour later, same place, same clean break.
Things got better after that though . On dancehall night, Thursday night, the place was ram packed with fans and we could not even get to the bathrooms without a struggle but we enjoyed ourselves immensely and bleached the entire night until Vybes Kartel came on and chased us out with his nonsensical performance at about 7.30 am.
Luckily we had already had a belly full with wonderful performances as most artists were on top form and obviously set out to entertain. The dancers energetic and creative and most of the costumes really colourful and attractive.
My fabvourite dancehall artist Mavado really displayed great talent and maturity. Pity he keeps getting himself so mixed up since today it was all over the radio that he was wanted by the police because of some violent incident involving he and his "crew" and a motorist at Sumfest.
I had bnever seen Khargo before on satge and he too delivered a great performance as did Kiprich, I Octane, Bounty Killer, Jah Vinchi, Cecille and Spice.
You know that one of the negatives of dancehall is that some performers who have great voices never have these exposed as they make so much money from dj-ing that they don't bother to sing. For example, for years I never knew that Lady Saw was a fantastic singer until I saw her at the Jazz festival last year performing as Marrion Hall. (her real name!) And the same thing happened with Spice. Man she did an acappella performance as her final contribution on Thursday night that sent shivers through the audience because of the melody and power of her voice. I predict that she is going to end up being recognised and respected as a great Jamaican singer, far outperforming her dj persona. Our young friend Kimberley was a back up singer for Tifa but we really could not hear her as the backing band was very loud and Tifa dominated the stage with her antics.
There is however a dangerous practice that the organisers need to do something about before we have a major tragedy on our hands. In the "olden days" people usually used their lighters to show their approval when their favourite performers were rocking the place but now they have graduated to using huge flames lit from aerosol tins of insecticide. This practice needs to be outlawed before someone gets really badly burnt at one of these events.
Friday was a real bomb with Coco Tea making us forget very quickly that the expected star R .Kelly wasn't coming. His performance was memorable, entertaining and simply out of this world as he kept us rocking for about an hour with his and the music of other greats such as Bob Marley.
Chris Martin has really become and excellent entertainer and he has built himself a body that he was proud to display as he crooned to the females hanging on to his every word as we admired his physique.
Tanya Stephens has always been one of the female performers that I have always loved and she grows from strength to strength with her entertaining antics and lyrics and of course Beres is just Beres. I just can't say anymore, about him. We just love him every time everywhere. Yes, I love R. Kelly but boy he was not missed at all as we got as good belly full.
We left early as we had to drive all the way back to Silver Sands,so we didn't hear Bunny Wailer but after Coco Tea and Beres we really didn't need anymore. We skipped Saturday night as our friend Oran was celebrating his 70th birthday at his brother's Ocean Sands hotel in Ocho Rios and we just couldn't miss that and I am glad we didn't for I saw many old friend whom I had lost contact with over the years.
Sunday was supposed to be a day of rest but some friends dropped by and it was dominoes, liquor and food all day. And how better to end a wonderful weekend than by outfishing all the big fishermen?
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| Shadrach (back) and Kristof make their way in with their chairs. |
As my grandson Shadrach was here for the summer, he and his friend Kristof came with us to Sumfest. Things did not get off to a dignified start for as I sat in my China made chair I dropped to the ground. Very embarrassing. This was a sturdy looking chair made from aluminum and canvas but proving once again that " a chain is as strong as the weakest link' for while the chair was sturdy, the thread that sewed it was rotten and it was clean break. Bernie had the exact same chair and his broke about an hour later, same place, same clean break.
Things got better after that though . On dancehall night, Thursday night, the place was ram packed with fans and we could not even get to the bathrooms without a struggle but we enjoyed ourselves immensely and bleached the entire night until Vybes Kartel came on and chased us out with his nonsensical performance at about 7.30 am.
Luckily we had already had a belly full with wonderful performances as most artists were on top form and obviously set out to entertain. The dancers energetic and creative and most of the costumes really colourful and attractive.
I had bnever seen Khargo before on satge and he too delivered a great performance as did Kiprich, I Octane, Bounty Killer, Jah Vinchi, Cecille and Spice.
You know that one of the negatives of dancehall is that some performers who have great voices never have these exposed as they make so much money from dj-ing that they don't bother to sing. For example, for years I never knew that Lady Saw was a fantastic singer until I saw her at the Jazz festival last year performing as Marrion Hall. (her real name!) And the same thing happened with Spice. Man she did an acappella performance as her final contribution on Thursday night that sent shivers through the audience because of the melody and power of her voice. I predict that she is going to end up being recognised and respected as a great Jamaican singer, far outperforming her dj persona. Our young friend Kimberley was a back up singer for Tifa but we really could not hear her as the backing band was very loud and Tifa dominated the stage with her antics.
 |
| A dangerous practice....generating huge flames in the crowd from insecticide cans! |
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| I Octane wows the crowd |
Friday was a real bomb with Coco Tea making us forget very quickly that the expected star R .Kelly wasn't coming. His performance was memorable, entertaining and simply out of this world as he kept us rocking for about an hour with his and the music of other greats such as Bob Marley.
Chris Martin has really become and excellent entertainer and he has built himself a body that he was proud to display as he crooned to the females hanging on to his every word as we admired his physique.
Tanya Stephens has always been one of the female performers that I have always loved and she grows from strength to strength with her entertaining antics and lyrics and of course Beres is just Beres. I just can't say anymore, about him. We just love him every time everywhere. Yes, I love R. Kelly but boy he was not missed at all as we got as good belly full.
We left early as we had to drive all the way back to Silver Sands,so we didn't hear Bunny Wailer but after Coco Tea and Beres we really didn't need anymore. We skipped Saturday night as our friend Oran was celebrating his 70th birthday at his brother's Ocean Sands hotel in Ocho Rios and we just couldn't miss that and I am glad we didn't for I saw many old friend whom I had lost contact with over the years.
Sunday was supposed to be a day of rest but some friends dropped by and it was dominoes, liquor and food all day. And how better to end a wonderful weekend than by outfishing all the big fishermen?
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