It was a night of soul-touching music, energetic dances, fellowship and divine worship. One of the most anticipated gospel events of the year had finally returned! Last Saturday, excitement buzzed around the National Stadium as both Christians and non-Christians got ready for the annual staging of the revolutionary “Unity in the City” to begin.

With both grandstand and the stadium field crammed with people, it was evident that numerous Christians were eager to relish in the awesome presence of God. Even though it was an amazing experience, with such high expectations to meet, there were a lot of aspects about the concert that were a bit disappointing.  

The concert opened with a not so comedic, “comedy” skit.  It was evident that the performers barely rehearsed and ended up delivering a very dull performance. After the tragic comedic piece, however, the entertainment began to improve. The Unity Mass Choir did an amazing job at setting an atmosphere ready for worship. Then the performances that followed got even better and better. The concert blessed us with some of the most acclaimed gospel talents locally and internationally, and I enjoyed every single moment of it.  

Unfortunately, it seemed as if only the audience members in the multiple-tiered VIP sections were able to thoroughly enjoy the concert. For such a high-end gospel event, the sound quality was deplorable. Although those lucky enough to be on the field in the VIP, VVIP (Diamond) or ULTIMATE section did not experience this issue, the sound was clearly a huge issue for those in grandstand and in bleachers. The concert had to be put on pause after a unified cry for improvement came from the grandstand section. “We can’t hear! We can’t hear!” they chanted in passionate unison, as they demanded for the sound to be fixed. The issue was attended to quickly, but then the sound slowly deteriorated again, not long after.

One very irate audience member in grandstand compared the sound at the concert to music being played through a cheap earphone. The organizers placed no speaker boxes towards the grandstand or bleachers sections as they all were facing the field where the VIP and Diamond audience members were located.

There was another issue that took away from the Unity in the City experience.  Many were upset about the amount of time allotted to Sister Marion Hall’s act in comparison to some of the other artistes. It felt as if due to her lengthy performance, it took away from the time of the other performances. During the “reggae worshiper”, Rondell Positive’s performance, he publicly addressed the organizers when he was told to only sing one more song. He passionately responded in front of the entire National Stadium that he wouldn’t be singing only one more song because we, the audience, paid money for an experience and he will be giving us a performance worthy of our money.

When teenAGE asked if he would perform again at Unity in the City after his experience this year, Rondell Positive’s response was one of mystery.

“The people of the kingdom deal with principles and order. I wouldn’t say I wouldn’t do it again but there are some things that would have to be straightened” he said, seeming to be referring to the “one more song” issue that occurred on stage.

When the highly anticipated gospel new-comer, Rhoda Isabella finished her performance, it became apparent that the audience was not pleased about her set being so short. The chants “We want more!” reverberated through the stadium as an irritated audience demanded retribution. Nevertheless, the organizers did not concede to the desires of the masses and continued with the concert.

Even though, disappointingly, Travis Greene was not able to make it to the concert, the other two international artistes did amazingly. Gospel legend Fred Hammond did a great job of getting everyone excited, singing and dancing to his famous songs.

Tasha Cobb’s entrance was an event in itself to be witnessed! Everyone was on their feet as excited cheers filled the air. Like bees going towards honey, it felt as if the entire National Stadium swarmed the vehicle Tasha entered in, desperate to just get a video, photo or even just a look at the anointed gospel singer. When she went on stage, her mere presence commanded the attention of everyone in the audience as we got ready to be blessed with her miraculous voice. It seemed as if even nature was in awe of the powerful worship that Tasha instilled in the atmosphere as flashes of lightning could be seen in the background decorating the night sky during her performance, adding a sort of supernatural and majestic ambiance.

Ian Ellis, more commonly known by his stage name “Ity”, alongside with recently public gospel singer Alaine Laughton both guided us on this musical journey of worship as the co-hosts. I thoroughly enjoyed the hilarious banter they had on stage. However, during the gruesomely long band changes, as nothing was happening on stage, they did not do such a good job of filling that emptiness created.   

Even though it must be noted that the night was ruined by a lot of things due to poor organization, the quality of the performances still made the concert an experience to never forget. As the beautiful co-host Alaine said, “It was a journey in praise and patience and lesson learnt…the night ended up beautifully”. Seeing strangers come together loving God and each other, worshiping and praising in unity reminded me of what a blessing this concert is. Hopefully next year will be better organized so that Jamaica’s number one, most anticipated and sought after gospel event, will be even more of a blessing to the saved and non-saved.

—Nathan Walker