Paradise at ‘Salute’
THE opening night of Rebel Salute was dubbed ‘Singer’s Paradise’ and that is exactly what the acts created Friday night into Saturday morning.
Successive artistes took the stage on the expansive greens of Grizzly’s Plantation Cove in Priory, St Ann, and delivered what the thousands who poured into the venue wanted to hear.
Leading the charge was the man with the silky-smooth voice, Sanchez.
From the moment he stepped on stage at 3:45 am, he made it his own. Immaculately attired in black and white, he quickly lost the white dinner jacket and tie, loosened his shirt and made himself comfortable — a clear sign he meant business.
For the next 40 minutes, it was hit after hit: Johnny Clarke’s Rock with Me Baby, Tracy Chapman’sBaby Can I Hold You and Larry Graham’s One in A Million held the audience captive.
Josh Groban’s You Raise Me Up truly raised the bar and Sanchez could do no wrong.
A string of his hits followed, including a tribute to reggae greats Dennis Brown, Gregory Isaacs, Sugar Minott and Tenor Saw before he exited the stage.
The extensive line-up played havoc with the running order, and as the show wore on, acts were forced to cut their set. This left both artistes and audience disappointed at times.
But truncated sets aside, there were other noteworthy performances.
Nesbeth was impressive, working his current hit My Dream. Tony Gregory was smooth and brought another dimension of reggae, so did renowned roots trio The Congos.
Promoter and birthday boy Tony Rebel, Luciano, Everton Blender, Ernie Smith, Pluto Shervington and The Heptones delivered the set audiences have come to know and love over the years.
The recent changes to the ‘ganja laws’ and weed exemption at Rebel Salute was fodder for a number of acts.
Long-time ganja campaigner Chezidek, Richie Spice, Kabaka Pyramid, and Tony Curtis of the group LUST saluted the weed.
It was just after 9:00 am when Jah Mason and Louie Culture closed night one in front of the faithful, who braved the scorching morning sun.
Rebel Salute 2016 was scheduled to wrap this morning with performances from Beres Hammond, David Brooks aka Mavado, Queen Ifrica, Iba Mahr and more.