Mel Cooke, Freelance Writer

Ken Booth received the only encore for the night at Stars R Us Show, held at Mas Camp, Oxford Road, New Kingston on Friday, April 18.

When John Holt invited those who remained from an already small, but not embarrassingly so, audience at Mas Camp to remove the barriers before the stage and come closer to him and Lloyd Parkes and We The People band, they did.

And they did not just stand there, but danced happily away at nearly 4:00 a.m. on Saturday, as Holt electrified with Carpenter and Stick By Me, among other songs, eventually taking requests at the Oxford Road, New Kingston, party spot.

A few hours earlier, it would have seemed an unlikely end to the vintage music concert, as the turnout was initially very low, many coming in late by vintage concert standards to eventually make up more than enough for a party atmosphere.

And they got a lot to party to, Strange Jah Cole dropping legs to Bangarang, giving all a Rough and Tough Time and walking off-stage hand in hand with a young stand-in who combined with him on When I Call Your Name.

On a brilliantly moonlit night, The Clarendonians kept a steady groove, but after Rudie Bam Bam commented "me nah hear oonuh". There was no problem hearing the ladies squeal, though, when Ernest Wilson went husky and slow for Practise What You Preach, changing part of the chorus to "sex is what I preach". There was a very smooth switch to Dreams To Remember, the ladies yelping as Wilson delved into "wet dreams", and Wilson closed with I stand Accused.

Errol Dunkley smiled expansively, did some 'West Kingston skanks' and kept an infectious slow tempo going through Movie Star, Your Love is Amazing and Black Cinderella, the last getting a restart as it hit hard. "Yu see da tune ya, it mek nuff babies. If a lie me a tell, don' sing a line. If a true, sing," Dunkley said. The mass singalong and restart to It Won't Be Long spoke volumes.