The night reggae rocked Port Royal Pier

In his opening song, Forward March, ska great Derrick Morgan summed up the vibeat Reggae on the Pier, filmed at the Port Authority of Jamaica’s cruise port at the historic Naval Dockyard in Port Royal – “ … because the time has come when you can have your fun… .”

Reggae on the Pier, which featured Derrick Morgan, Beres Hammond, Marcia Griffiths, Richie Spice, Christopher Martin, Romain Virgo and Tarrus Riley, was one of two Reggae Month events which were allowed a limited, all-COVID-protocols-observed audience. And despite being masked and largely social distanced, artistes and audience alike acted like schoolwork-weary primary-school kids who were finally let out for recess.

Singer Christopher Martin danced the night away while watching his friend, Romain Virgo, perform. Virgo reiterated just how good it was to be performing live on stage because he “really missed it”; and Beres Hammond expressed his love for the venue, the world-class stage set-up, the artistes and his fans, and exulted in simply being outside at a live reggae concert.

CELEBRATE REGGAE MONTH

“Everything about this is great!” a delighted Hammond told The Gleaner of the concert staged by the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport and VP Records to celebrate Reggae Month.

The King of Lovers’ Rock, as expected, took all of that glorious energy on to the stage and translated it into a performance that rocked the pier. He was summoned to centrestage by the queen herself, Marcia Griffiths, to accompany her on the final song of her set, their Donovan Germain-produced hit collab on the ‘College Rock ’ riddim, Live On. Hammond and Griffiths totally captivated the audience, so much so that one female music industry player asked, quite loudly, “Who will take over from these two? Who is there for them to pass the baton to?” Armed with a catalogue that most of his fans can recite even in their sleep, Hammond connected smoothly with his fans as he reeled off his classic love songs, among them Tempted to Touch, Rockaway and No Goodbye.

With her fashionable, statement-making wardrobe and her timeless hit songs, Marcia Griffiths is always a hit combination of elegance and musicality. Dressed in pure white, topped with a vibrant red-and-gold headwrap, along with a red-gold-and-green scarf, Griffiths was regal. She did a spin on the term ‘old school’ and promised to “feed you with the ‘good school’ sound,” and proceded to do just that with favourites such as Dreamland, I Shall Sing, All My Life and others.

Opening act, the legendary octogenarian Derrick Morgan, who was seated throughout his performance, was “rougher than rough and tougher than tough”, and certainly raised the bar high for those who followed. Interspersed with his songs such as Rudie Don’t Fear, In My Heart and I’m Leaving were history lessons, and Morgan also shared tidbits about his personal life. By the end of his performance, his audience knew that Freedom March was “the first Independence song,” having been released shortly after Jamaica received its Independence in August 1962, and that, after searching, he found his queen named Nellie, and they have been together for 56 years. After performing I’m Leaving, he gave a little side note. “But is not Nellie mi a go lef’,” Morgan said, to laughter from his fans.

Declaring that it was “such a joy, such a blessing to be on the stage once more,” Virgo wasted no time as he delivered a blistering set. Crowd favourite Fade Away, a 2015 song with a perennial message, “dutty heart can’t sweep wid broom,” was the first to be ticked off a list that was chockful of goodness, includingsongs such as Mi Caan Sleep and I am Rich in Love. He called up Chris Martin and together they upped the ante as they performed their collab, Leave People Business.

TRIBUTE

Upon being officially passed the mic, Martin thrilled with a package that included Buss a Blank, If You Can’t Love me Now, You’ll Never Find and the reggae version of Little Green Apples, which he sang in tribute to Crown Prince of Reggae, Dennis Brown.

Richie Spice brought food for the soul with his arguably prophetic 2004 track, Upside Down, on the ‘S oul Food’ riddim. Earth a Run Red, Brown Skin and Ghetto Girl also featured in his well-executed set.

Tarrus Riley was all about the celebration of reggae music. “If yuh know yuh love reggae all year ‘round seh ‘Yeah!’ But nutten nuh wrong if we tek a one month and celebrate reggae music,” he declared during his festive performance, in which he reeled off hits such as Lion Paw, Beware, Stay With You and Human Nature.

Streaming a live set from his Waterhouse studios was legendary producer and soundman King Jammy.

Reggae Month 2022 is celebrated under the theme ‘Come Ketch De Riddim’.

yasmine.peru@gleanerjm.com