Come along take a ride on the Fantastic Voyage
Welcome to our August 2014 REGGAEMANIA EVENTS — We present to you a look through the lens of past August 2014 Reggae-Dancehall Events that took place the Toronto and surrounding areas. See event Flyers, Reviews, Videos and Pics, and listen/download our Audio Podcasts.
See Hot Pics — Redemption Toronto Reggae Festival [Day Two] 08.17.14
This year’s Redemption Reggae Festival was a total success. A big congratulations to DBandit Promotions on this one, many had said it would be hard to top last year’s Festival, but this year moving it outdoors and bringing back Beres Hammond to headline on two nights was a winning strategy. Despite a stormy and rainy first day, my guess is that close to 5,000 people turned out at the Polson Pier Parking Lot to witness performances by Maxi Priest, Mr. Vegas, Tarrus Riley and Beres Hammond. The next day, I’m guessing that close to 4,000 people attended to see Christopher Martin, Barrington Levy, Sean Paul and the return of headliner Beres Hammond. Both nights would also feature performances by Canadian artists Lindo P., Korexion, Mel Dube, Gyles, and Ammoye.
I wasn’t there the first day, but Lisa West represented for ReggaeMania.com and took photos. From all reports, the show was well executed and featured Maxi Priest on first followed by a series of Canadian artists including Lindo P. who from all reports mashed up the place. I heard Mr. Vegas destroyed it after that, followed by Tarrus Riley who also did an amazing show featuring back to back favourites that had the crowd singing along. Beres Hammond, as expected, closed the show with another classic performance. He paced himself well during his show and appeared completely at home with a crowd that truly enjoyed themselves as hit after hit was delivered by a fairly energergized Beres Hammond and his band.
Night Two was highlighted by almost perfect weather conditions when compared to the day previous. Because things had run smoothly on day One, things were a little less tense in the building, and people were friendly and social while witnessing live music and performance. When I entered the venue, I did not have a back stage pass, but I was spotted by one of my comrades Farley Flex who wanted me back there with him so he could promote a new TV Network that he would be launching.
My late arrival on Sunday cost me to miss Barrington Levy’s and Christopher Martin’s performances, but I was able to meet and pic Mr. Martin back stage. I polled a few fans who had no complaints about either artist’s performances. Tarrus Riley had stuck around back stage after his Saturday performance, so I was also able to meet and pic this great artist as well. It was the same with Sean Paul and Beres Hammond, I was able to meet and pic them both backstage – didn’t see Barrington anywhere.
As soon as I had settled into the back stage area, Sean Paul was about to go on. I observed him as he exited his dressing room and waited on the side of the stage for his entrance cue. Seeing Sean Paul performing with a live band was interesting, and I give him credit for creating distractions from himself in order to help amplify his show. His show resembled a rock show or pop performance. Sean Paul himself was rather boring to watch, but he had a hip-hop styled MC beside him, two Asian live dancers who never stopped moving, and a band that seemed awkward at times but delivered their songs with a punch. Too bad the audience wasn’t too into it, or not into Sean Paul, who must be wondering why Toronto wasn’t feeling him the same as other territories do.
I won’t say Sean Paul flopped because his show left no empty gaps and instead was constantly moving and full of energy. That makes up for the Sean Paul monotonic twang that get’s a bit irritating after 15 or so minutes. It’s just that the audience wasn’t very responsive, and it seemed they weren’t feeling his songs, despite the legacy of hits left behind and a very solid 50 minute perfomance. Sean Paul was the DJ-representative over the two day Festival, the rest were all singers or sing-jays.
Next up were a few Canadian Artist performances then it was time for Mr. Beres Hammond, and the crowd was hyped, ready and waiting. Beres Hammond’s son was dressed in all white and was the DJ who played from center stage as the final segment before Mr. Hammond would grace the stage for his final of two consecutive nights. Mr. Hammond was in a good mood and seemed happy that the temperatures had eased for his performance compared to the cool temperatures and rain the night previous bound to have made many feel a wee bit miserable.
I have seen Beres a few times now in concert. On this occasion, Beres sounded crisp and clear as he deliver classic hit after classic hit, and if you didn’t think it was live, he’d prove it to you by delivering a startling series of accappella’s that showed people why he’s the blessed artist that he is. He remained cool and calm on stage and was always accompanied by his personal road manager-bodyguard who at all times seemed poised to catch Mr. Hammond if he should stumble or fall (see the pics of his backstage exit – exclusive to ReggaeMania.com). It is speculated that Beres Hammond may be somewhat ill. There are unsubstantiated reports that and he may have some form of Cancer. I noted that Mr. Hammond did not remove his baseball cap at any time during his two performances, is it possible that he has lost all of his hair as a result of treatment for the disease?
Big up Mr. Beres Hammond, another splendid show for the Toronto massive. And was I the only one that noticed – but it seemed like Beres wore the same shirt two days in a row (I’m sure he washed it before re-wearing it), no? And is it just me, but didn’t the Beres Show last year contain the same percussion solo demonstration, bass guitar solo, and lead guitar solos as the ones performed last year, and in the same order? Perhaps these things don’t matter to fans, but I thought it would matter to the Artist not to repeat, guess I’m wrong.
I bigged up the promoters on the 2014 Festival before, but I also have to big up the fans. Everybody partied in peace, and at one time in this city, an event like this could never have happened outdoors without some kind of violence or negativity or Police in patty wagons and horseback. Big up Night One – I wasn’t there but I heard that this night had better vibes than night two, which I personally thought had great vibes! I’ll let the pictures do the rest of the talking – there are over 400 of them! Bless.
See Hot Pics – Jambana @ Markham Fair Grounds 08.04.14
Anyone who attended this year’s JAMBANA One World Festival is likely to describe it as very satisfying from start to finish. This two-day outdoor Reggae music festival event had solid attendance, great food, and live performance by many premiere artists, DJs and MC’s. Jambana, a Jones & Jones Production, featured on day one (Sunday, August 3rd)The Mighty Sparrow, Marcia Griffiths, JC Lodge, Leroy Gibbon, Exco Levi, Jully Black, Gerry Thompson, Mountain Edge Roots & Culture Band and more. Monday’s Day 2 Jambana featured Real 3D (Dance Crew), Mountain Edge, Omri Brown, Jay Harmony, Majestic Warriors, Miss P (England), Long Shen Dao, Nkrumah, Akustic, Blakk Rasta, Steele, and Cocoa Tea.
Sunday’s Day 1 event was blessed by perfect weather from start to finish, and there was a steady turnout from the time the Markham Fair Ground gates opened one hour after schedule. I’ll big up some of the performances I remember seeing, but honestly, there were so many things to do at Jambana atop my DJ duties that I had little time and energy to take any photographs on this first day.
Canada’s Jully Black get’s top ratings from me – she looked extremely confident and sexy, delivering a solid performance and her R&B styles were well accepted by the early crowd that had turned out. I’ll say the same for JC Lodge, it seemed like just business for this veteran performer who I remember at one time yelling back at fans in the crowd who couldn’t wait for her classic “Telephone Love” to be performed, not to “rush” her.
I can’t say much about the Mighty Sparrow, I stayed and chilled back stage during their performance, but from what I could see it seemed more of a repeat of last year, with less impact this time around. Since I’ve seen Leroy Gibbon many times, I also chilled backstage and listened to his show, which for the most part, seemed right on.
Exco Levi’s show has now reached perfection, and he eased through Jambana with one of the better shows I’ve seen him do to date. Exco is one of our best, but the irony still is that he is better received abroad than here in his home town, and his songs are better known there than here. Still, the audience sang with him as he went through his library of well crafted songs with clear precise lyrical deliveries with every tune performed.
Headliner Marcia Griffiths was in her element. She never fails to please, and Jambana would be nothing different as she delivered another spectacular for her any adoring fans that were there mostly to see her perform. She was also honored for her achievements,as the show was paused for a short multi-media presentation featuring some of her career hilights (hence the red chair on stage). Marcia was fairly hyped back stage, and was looking for alcohol just minutes prior to performing – I remember telling her with a smile after she had gotten her alcohol, that I thought it was her to consume, when in fact, she had been requesting alcohol not to drink, but to sterilize the stage microphone that everyone else had been using before putting it to her lips.
Monday’s crowd was decent, and despite periods of hard rain occasional lightening and thunder, the event was blessed, as the powers above cooperated, and thousands of people would be in their glory as they witnessed flawless performances by many premier local, Jamaican and international artists. Big ups go to Real 3D, Omri Brown, Jay Harmony, Majestic Warriors and Mountain Edge for solid performances. I admit going into Jambana I knew nothing about England’s Miss P, but I will say without a doubt that she totally flopped during her time on stage, and was not understood or received well by a very patient and tolerant Jambana crowd who came just short of booing her for her extended performance.
On a brighter note, China’s Long Shen Dao was a pleasure to experience (they weren’t bad considering…), and so was Blakk Rasta from Ghana. Akustic and Nkrumah has always been two of my favourite performing artists, and they didn’t let down the crowd either, delivering excellent shows with precision timing and clear vocals.
Steele is Canada’s ultimate showman. What a show! I had seen Steele back stage and while bigging him up and wishing him good luck on his how, I caution him that he’s also under pressure of not performing the same show as last year. Well, what can I say, Steel tore up the Jambana crowd, and performed the best show he’s done to date to the delight of an audience who had now been peaking in anticipation as the sun had gone down and the night was reaching it’s climatic lose. Big up Naggo Morris, who accompanied Steele and added some good humour to the show-stealing performance.
Now it was time for Cocoa Tea, and after Steele exited the stage, I had my last turn to spin on the one’s and two’s some of the greatest reggae classics appropriate to move the Jambana crowd into an epiphany. Now it was time for show headliner, Cocoa Tea. The crowd could hardly wait. Cocoa Tea performed admirably, it’s amazing how this artist has aged so gracefully, and his voice so flawless sounding exactly as it does on in the recording studios where he made his seemingly endless series of classic hits. Cocoa Tea loves performing for his Toronto massive, and at one point almost went too far by starting a near stampede when he had irresponsibly encouraged the crowd to break down the gates and barriers so that he would be close to them while performing.
Steele is Canada’s ultimate showman. What a show! I had seen Steele back stage and while bigging him up and wishing him good luck on his how, I caution him that he’s also under pressure of not performing the same show as last year. Well, what can I say, Steel tore up the Jambana crowd, and performed the best show he’s done to date to the delight of an audience who had now been peaking in anticipation as the sun had gone down and the night was reaching it’s climatic lose. Big up Naggo Morris, who accompanied Steele and added some good humour to the show-stealing performance.
If this had been a different venue and audience, security would not have been able to handle that situation. Moments later, I laughed when the well behaved crowd, in response to his numerous invitations, replied several times with a loud “nooo!”, but that’s then Cocoa Tea did the next best thing by stepping off the stage and into the dugout area on ground level in front of it where now he could directly greet and mingle with his fans. This continued for at least five or six minutes, as Cocoa Tea walked and sang and greeted fans spanning the width of the entire front row. He didn’t want to miss greeting a single person, and he could’ve entered the core of the audience there, he would have. Big up Cocoa Tea, a great show to end the night, even though it was the exact same show as he did just a few weeks back at the Sound Academy.
Steele is Canada’s ultimate showman. What a show! I had seen Steele back stage and while bigging him up and wishing him good luck on his how, I caution him that he’s also under pressure of not performing the same show as last year. Well, what can I say, Steel tore up the Jambana crowd, and performed the best show he’s done to date to the delight of an audience who had now been peaking in anticipation as the sun had gone down and the night was reaching it’s climatic lose. Big up Naggo Morris, who accompanied Steele and added some good humour to the show-stealing performance.
Overall, Jambana was a success, and I say this in part because Jones and Jones promotions did flip the script and create a two day event out of one, while bumping up slightly the admission price at the same time. It was a gutsy gamble but a good concept in the end would prevail and now there is money in the bank for next year’s event which I predict may double in attendance, the reward for a smoothly executed promotion. Last year’s nightmarish parking issues and traffic congestion problems while entering and exiting the venue did not return this year, as authorities and organizers were better prepared to deal with these issues based on their experience from the year prior. Plus, parking was free, and that was a big bonus helping to justify the increased gate price. When all was said and done, Jambana was not only a success, but it was also a necessary relief for those who love Reggae first and were here for a very Soca dominated Carnival weekend.
Steele is Canada’s ultimate showman. What a show! I had seen Steele back stage and while bigging him up and wishing him good luck on his how, I caution him that he’s also under pressure of not performing the same show as last year. Well, what can I say, Steel tore up the Jambana crowd, and performed the best show he’s done to date to the delight of an audience who had now been peaking in anticipation as the sun had gone down and the night was reaching it’s climatic lose. Big up Naggo Morris, who accompanied Steele and added some good humour to the show-stealing performance.
P.S. Big up the people who big you up and try stab u in the back same time…Oliver Samuels and Allan Jones. Oliver and I don’t like each other, that’s clear. He not only insulted me in front of the entire Jambana crowd, but he insulted every Jamaican in the house by unprofessionally instructing my to cut off the Jamaican National Anthem, which I had selected during a DJ set that was rocking the crowd. He, while staring at me, stated that he did not “know what was going on over there”, and that he did not want to tolerate the National Anthem being “played so frivolously”.
At that moment I knew that the two of us were no longer on the same Jambana team, as his antics were truly unprofessional, and after he tried getting forwards off his move but got none. I confronted him back stage afterwards and told him without skinning teeth that I did not think much of him trying to get a fa-ward off me. He laughed, probably nervous because it was just him and me and I had dared to step to him privately and stand up for myself which I’m sure many people don’t do and should do.
I did not get an apology, and when I saw him and his congregation at Beleeny’s Restaurant the same night, he quickly exited from the venue, obviously aware of the tension between us. There was no crowd there anyway, just a few people eating dinner, so the concept of Ron Nelson, Delroy G and another radio DJ as the entertainment lineup had flopped for a second consecutive night for a promoter who had put all his eggs in a G98 basket – but that’s another story.
The next day at Jambana, it took three times for the two of us(me and Oliver) to finally acknowledge each other and utter greetings. The only words out of his mouth was “Peace”. This was not an apology, and I didn’t expect one from a man that obviously had know idea about my history of retaliating to anyone who tries shitting on me. Oliver though, loves to clash himself, and attempted to deliver another blow when he was supposed to introduce me as the DJ for the next set and instead said Delroy G’s name. Delroy would later approach me and apologized for Oliver’s ‘mistake’, congratulating himself for smoothly covering it up by taking the mic and then introducing me himself.
Steele is Canada’s ultimate showman. What a show! I had seen Steele back stage and while bigging him up and wishing him good luck on his how, I caution him that he’s also under pressure of not performing the same show as last year. Well, what can I say, Steel tore up the Jambana crowd, and performed the best show he’s done to date to the delight of an audience who had now been peaking in anticipation as the sun had gone down and the night was reaching it’s climatic lose. Big up Naggo Morris, who accompanied Steele and added some good humour to the show-stealing performance.
Then finally, there was Jambana MC and CHRY show host Alan Jones, who took a moment to call me to the stage front to big me up while not allowing me to take the mic. Not only did he mistakenly state that my radio show is heard on 97.7 (CHIN FM is on 100.7 ), but he added insult on top by referring to me as someone who says things that “people don’t like” on the radio, c’mon now Mr. Jones, that was not called for, and to make matters worse, Jamabana or no Jambana, you work at CHRY and I work at CHIN, so watch what you say about a fellow radio personality. I will be returning the favour in the future somewhere somehow! That’s an old trick – insulting me and complementing me at the same time, while I had to stand there mic-less. If there was good intent on this moment, it sure came off the wrong way, when you look bank and examine what was said.
At that moment I knew that the two of us were no longer on the same Jambana team, as his antics were truly unprofessional, and after he tried getting forwards off his move but got none. I confronted him back stage afterwards and told him without skinning teeth that I did not think much of him trying to get a fa-ward off me. He laughed, probably nervous because it was just him and me and I had dared to step to him privately and stand up for myself which I’m sure many people don’t do and should do.
I did not get an apology, and when I saw him and his congregation at Beleeny’s Restaurant the same night, he quickly exited from the venue, obviously aware of the tension between us. There was no crowd there anyway, just a few people eating dinner, so the concept of Ron Nelson, Delroy G and another radio DJ as the entertainment lineup had flopped for a second consecutive night for a promoter who had put all his eggs in a G98 basket – but that’s another story.
The next day at Jambana, it took three times for the two of us(me and Oliver) to finally acknowledge each other and utter greetings. The only words out of his mouth was “Peace”. This was not an apology, and I didn’t expect one from a man that obviously had know idea about my history of retaliating to anyone who tries shitting on me. Oliver though, loves to clash himself, and attempted to deliver another blow when he was supposed to introduce me as the DJ for the next set and instead said Delroy G’s name. Delroy would later approach me and apologized for Oliver’s ‘mistake’, congratulating himself for smoothly covering it up by taking the mic and then introducing me himself.
Steele is Canada’s ultimate showman. What a show! I had seen Steele back stage and while bigging him up and wishing him good luck on his how, I caution him that he’s also under pressure of not performing the same show as last year. Well, what can I say, Steel tore up the Jambana crowd, and performed the best show he’s done to date to the delight of an audience who had now been peaking in anticipation as the sun had gone down and the night was reaching it’s climatic lose. Big up Naggo Morris, who accompanied Steele and added some good humour to the show-stealing performance.
See Hot Pics – Stonelove @ Luxy 08.01.14
Big up Diamond and Bill Cosby who repped the Stone Love sound admirably and destroyed the place musically at Luxy on Carnival Friday August 1st. Jamaica’s immortals literally had the over capacity crowd eating out of their hands, and from start to finish, delivered a series of exclusive dubs, anthems and reggae classics in a style that their predominantly female fans could relate to and enjoy. There’s not much else to say here, yes – it was just a dance, but I’ve seen Stone Love many times over the years, and this was one of their best performance to date. Big up the whole crew, and all of the fans who came out to support!
