I state the above because in the end, I cannot credit Gully Bop for doing a ‘good’ show in Toronto.  It may not have been his fault though, that is the lesson here.  Most performers one would think are protected by a contract that prevents them from being forced to perform under unsafe conditions.  Mind you, in dancehall, that’s not the ‘way’, one would be surprised how much inconvenience both Artistes and their audiences (promoters too) tolerate just to deliver reggae passionately to the people.  So the stage may have been small, but Gully wasn’t complaining.

But in the end, the stage killed the show. Gully Bob may been more appropriately advertised as a pass through or guest appearance, this wasn’t a true concert performance – all we heard were a few hooks before Gully Bop was overwhelmed by a crowd of mostly women who couldn’t help but rush him on an already overcrowded stage. The pictures speak for themselves, it was quite the party, Gully couldn’t have been happier. Women were all around him, ambushing him, touching him, whining him down, smiling at him, admiring him, and not to mention, singing out his lyrical hooks.  Gully Bop was here, and he was getting the super star sex symbol treatment – that in essence, was a show all by itself.

The Gullly Bop story is interesting, in a period of less than a year, this previously unheard of 52 year old sing-jay from ‘country’ has literally gone from rags to riches, becoming Dancehall’s most popular artiste with popular songs (an memorable hooks) such as “Body Specialist “and “Dem Nuh Bad Like Me”.  Last December, Gully Bop made headlines as he silenced all doubters with a convincing Sting performance focused mostly on dissing fellow veteran Jamaican artiste Ninja Man.

Going  back to the Classic Lounge show – Gully Bob came on stage about 2:15 am, after a slew of Canadian Artists warmed up the audience. And speaking of the stage, let’s talk about that for a second. The Classic Lounge stage leaves much to the imagination, and while it’s admirable that this venue has created a stage for live performance, the truth is that this set up leaves much to the imagination.  The stage is too small, and when the place is packed like it was on this night, can also become very slippery. There are also no crowd control barriers separating this stage from the audience, so performers who work the Classic Lounge stage are very restricted in what they can do. Taking pictures that night was virtually impossible, so when you see the pics, please keep this in mind.