Adrian Frater, News Editor

Veteran deejay Brigadier Jerry - Adrian Frater

WESTERN BUREAU

With ace deejay Beenie Man all pumped up and waxing musically sweet to the absolute delight of the fans at Saturday night's, Western Consciousness 20, at the Llandilo Cultural Centre, in Westmoreland, he had no choice but to cut it short when the show came to an abrupt end.

Amidst the excitement on the stage and in the crowd, the 2:00 a.m. cut-off time came and with a group of anxious-looking policemen ready to enforce the Noise Abatement Act, promoter Worrell King instructed the band to stop playing moments after Beenie Man waved a reluctant goodbye and headed back stage.

Prior to Beenie Man's closing set, it was all musical delight for the fans as most of the acts went straight for the jugular, side-lining their regular songs and dishing out only hits.

While the earlier acts such as Iyahblazz, Virgo Man, Lymie Murray and Andrew Tosh got a chance to really work, others like Buju, who played a dazzling cameo, were left frustrated.

In his set, Buju Banton had to slow down the SANE Band several times in his bid to make his mark. In the end he succeeded while he was singing and dancing up a storm on stage, the reaction among the fans was frenzied as they reacted joyfully to his awesome delivery of, Destiny, Not an Easy Road, Close One Yesterday and Hills and Valley and bits and pieces of other songs.

For the dancehall fans of the 1970s, they got a chance to journey down memory lane as they were treated by veteran deejays Brigadier Jerry and Josie Wales, who performed separately but achieved the same goal of turning back the clock to a time when the dancehall facilitated witty lyrics that were fit for airplay.

Josie Wales was in his element as he reeled of, Leggo Me Hand Gateman, Kingston Hot, Sweet Sweet Jamaica and a song of recent vintage, The Love Triangle, a humorous portrayal of the Bounti Killer/Beenie Man/ D Angel saga.

As usual, the Brigadier was like a teacher, drawing loud cheers as he unleashed old classics like, Yu Too Greedy, Briggi Ragamuffin, Chalice Haffi Bun and One General.

Female entertainers made as similar an impact as their male counterparts. With the dazzling Queen Ifrica and the militant Etana leading the way for others such as, the soothing if not sensuous Carol Gonzales, the velvet-smooth Xinyu and the 14-year old star-in-the-making, the Trinidadian Choc'late.

In terms of time management, the veterans Tony Rebel, Bushman, Mykal Rose, Eddy Fitzroy and George Nooks were superb as they all did well consuming very little time in doing so.

After Tony Rebel's Cyaan Go Round Good lifted the crowd to cloud nine, Bushman's Fire Pon a Weak Heart, and Mykal Rozes, Too Bless to be Stress subsequently lifted them over the top.