( L - R ) Lady G and Etana - Nathaniel Stewart photos

Some years ago, when Abijah's Revelation was just being revealed and was red hot, I went to a dance in Ocho Rios. Before the artistes performed on tracks, there was the now customary nearly all-night juggling with a popular selector urging the ladies which way to twist and turn.

Which they did, happily, two of the women lifting their short dresses to show shrubbery below, to the extreme appreciation of the selector and the men in the session.

But when Abijah came onstage, those were the two who banged the stage hardest, one with a bottle which a few minutes earlier she had been licking suggestively to the dancehall beat. They were almost in a spirit as the song took them over, moving from matters of the crotch to matters of a higher level with ease and equal enthusiasm.

I am reminded of this dual nature of the Jamaican partygoer at every stage show I attend, where the lover's side of music, the spirituality and the carnal are enthusiastically embraced by the same audience.

For example, at Sunday's 'Original Dancehall Jam Jam' in Clarendon, the audience screamed for Yellowman's renditions of Blueberry Hill and Three Nights a Week just as they did for Lady G's lyric 'don' mek no lesbian mislead yu/de bes' ting a when yu man a sd yu/an him whisper yu know me wi breed yu?

The humour of Professor Nuts and the gashing and lighting of Chuck Fender went down very well, again showing the tendency to adapt to different kinds of presentations.

And the Air Supply concert at the National Indoor Sports Centre was a hit, as was Sting. You cannot get much further apart than 'bullet bullet' and Making Love Out of Nothing At All, can you.

Those who show disdain and distaste for some of the harsher expressions of dancehall, including clashes, would do well to remember this way of responding to different sides of music. The same audience that wanted a clash at Sting embraced Etana's Wrong Address.

The promoters certainly understand this dual nature, this need, even, to have different kinds of music and since it is they who have to make a living by pulling in people through the gates, they present a package to suit the audience's needs.

And the more successful artistes also do have variety in their packages, as they too understand that variety, while sticking to a core theme, is the order of the day.

The critics who do not need to satisfy an audience can say what they want.