'RISE TO THE OCASSION', Sizzla's official birthday party on Saturday night, gave the public over thirty years worth of music in only a few hours.A considerable sized crowd turned out to celebrate with the magnetic Sizzla, cramming the infield of the Caymanas Park Race Track for a show which started long before midnight.
The music, however, catered to varying tastes. From the mesmerizing melodies of Marcia Griffiths, to the caressing crooning of Beres Hammond, to the furious fire burning of Sizzla, everything had its place at the show.
Marcia Griffiths, dubbed the 'Reggae Queen', acted just like one, with the messages of her timeless tunes. She graced the stage just after midnight and unleashed her most well known hits for just over half an hour. The half hour took patrons on a smooth and memorable journey through the years with 'I Shall Sing', 'Fire Burning', 'I Wanna Be Closer', 'Stepping Outa Babylon' among several more of her Penthouse hits.
Although Marcia was not doing knee lifts and prancing about on stage, she managed to send waves of energy through the venue. Young and old alike bounced to her tunes, singing them word by word and line by line.
Beres Hammond, the performer never known to flop anywhere, got the same response and energy as Marcia. With his every utterance, the musically hungry audience finished his lines for him, prompting MC Rohan Mauschette to comment on the power of these words.
"Many of you in here tonight were born just because your parents listened to Beres back in the day. Unnu father listen to the Beres and throw lyrics to yu mother, and tings just happen," he told the amused audience.
Lashing rampage
Cocoa Tea delivered a compelling set as well. He began with the oldies like Time Will Tell, but gradually shifted gears to modern hits like Where Is The Love, his combination with Richie Stephens, and Tek Weh Yu Gal. Richie Stephens as expected was there to offer his friendly counteraction to this scorching tune.
The mood changed after this set when fire burning Anthony B grabbed the microphone. Being in his backyard apparently fuelled his flames of condemnation, as he went on a lashing rampage which blasted everyone and everything from Omar Davies, to Gordon 'Butch' Stewart, to George Bush, to Tony Blair, to Taco Bell, to Baskin Robbins. The crowd loved every minute of it.
Old time favourite
Half-way through his set a worthy veteran Louie Culture joined him. Each of Louie's tunes, the majority of which are old time favourites, drew as much energy from the crowd as Anthony B's previous rants.
Close to 2:30 a.m., the 'earthstrong' man took the stage. Although armed only with his microphone, Sizzla garnered the attention of a five star army general as he paraded to and fro on the stage.
He did a complete performance set, singing tunes until they were almost or completely finished, something hardly seen locally. He chose them well also. From classics such as 'Good Ways', 'Mountains Round Jerusalem', 'Black Woman and Child', he mixed them with modern anthems like 'Mash Dem Down', 'All Is Well', 'Simplicity'. They all drew the usual flames and lighters plus several 'pull ups'.
Just as his set finished, an army of deejays and singers descended on the stage to pay their respects in the way they saw fit. The entourage included Bounty Killer, Jagwa, Predator, Thriller U, Jigsy King, Pinchers, Tony Curtis, New Kidz, Richie Spice, Chuck Fender and Natural Black, Junior Reid, and several more. They passed the mic around, deejaying their tunes until the crowd steadily trickled out of the venue to end the show.
