The Jamaica Star :: Entertainment :: Big, small moments at 'Giants'

Mel Cooke, Freelance Writer

Admiral Bailey

The line-up for Saturday night's 'Giants of the '80s' sound system-style concert at Mas Camp, Oxford Road, New Kingston, promised a delightful mixture of deejays and singers.

In the end, crooners and the chanters shared the 'giant' moments before a large audience, but they also split the times when the concert fell into a rut. A 'giant' one of these was the no-show of Ninja Man.

Dangerous

On the 'giant' side, after Daddy Lizard, a 'dangerous' moment from Courtney Melody and superb deejaying from Lady G, Admiral Tibet's Serious Time provided the first huge moment of the night and he sustained the standard through Terrorist and the advice "don't try to dis me girl", the latter coming after a genuine encore. Close to the end of the performances, Sanchez provided giant moment after giant moment, singing strong and crisp from his opening Here I am, the singalong going through "I can't wait till the morning comes".

Mykal Roze, who followed to close 'Giants of the '80s, gave some sparks to the many who remained despite the many who left as the hour grew late, Shootout starting his three-song showing which ended with the merest, delightful whiff of Sensimilla.

On the deejay side, Professor Nuts' extended history lesson his long career from the late 1970s, from deejaying like Nicodemus through to satisfying a request for his 'Jimmy Bascombe' persona, made the funny bone rattle over and over and over again. This was despite the audience's familiarity with the lyrics, showing as they deejayed right along with him. Burru Banton's gritty Tek a Set as he delivered lyrics as he promised and added stylish poses to boot kept 'Giants of the '80s' on a high.

Stur-Gav

And Josey Wales worked through a change in the sound to Stur-Gav, which was rounder and more solid than the house sound but provided music from a different set of speakers art the rear of the audience while the microphone was still with the house sound coming from the front. Still, his Love Triangle hit home repeatedly, Josey commenting "Carlene did a cook too much green/when de dread di want oxtail an' butter bean."

Coordination

However, the singers and deejays also split the bad moments, Admiral Bailey falling victim to the lack of coordination between music and microphone when he came on after Josey Wales. After struggling through Jump Up he said, "when a ting nah gwaan good it jus' nah gwaan good an yu fi know whan it nah gwaan good" and left. A highly anticipated Gregory Isaacs' three songs could hardly qualify as a performance and, when he was called back to the stage he sang five words: "lets give it a try", and left again.

There was a return to the house sound and Tinga Stewart had the unenviable task of reviving the party atmosphere. He tried his best but made only limited headway with Inside My Heart and Aware of Love, the audience singing along to the Just My Imagination and other R&B standards which he wove in, before giving way to Sanchez.

Clash

Scorpio won a tune-for-tune clash with long-time rival and friend King Jammys, closing with Calypso Rose sending "fyah inna Jammys wyah".

And the performances 'Giants of the '80s' started in a rut with trying but not very good deejay Super Kong, who refused to be moved although MC Shaka Fame and the event's promoter Horseman tried their best. Kong's persistence turned a bad start into a humorous moment. Digicel Rising Stars 2007 entrant Jordan Mais delivered These Arms of Mine to good effect, before Daddy Lizard got 'Giants of the '80s' into the billed performers.

( L - R ) Josey Wales., Professor Nuts - File photos