‘I’m here to stay’
Huge support for Valiant’s acoustic performance at Tacbar
Fans packed inside Tacbar, Wednesday night, to enjoy every ounce of Valiant’s unplugged performance.
Taking the stage at the scheduled start time of 10:00 pm — on-time performances being rare among dancehall acts — Valiant, with the Dub Squad in tow, reeled off his biggest hits, much to the delight of patrons.
The Dub Squad, comprising Ottmar Campbell on keyboard, Nicholas Groskopf on guitar, Jerome “Spangy” Small on bass, Keneil Delisser on drum, and Deshawn Fender on saxophone, provided tight backing duties and represented themselves well.
“I wanted to show dancehall that I’m here to stay. I’m not a gimmicks artiste, and I wanted to show that the new generation can do acoustics,” Valiant said in an interview post-performance with the Jamaica Observer.
The deejay said he was pleased with the event and thanked his team members and a few of his “co-workers” from the music fraternity for their contributions.
“A lot of preparation went into making this event what it was. We, as artistes, we ever late, and we ever unprepared, but we have good management to ensure that things go well. This is my first time bringing something new and everything went well, so I’m thankful,” Valiant added.
As he appeared onstage, Valiant went to work; reeling off a cover of the hit Beer and Salt.
He eased into a cover of Romain Virgo’s I Want to Go Home, which saw the crowd singing along.
Then he turned the temperature up a notch with North Carolina, Fighter, Cut All Losses (CAL), Mad Out, Speed Off, and the current chart-rider Lumbah.
The air-conditioning units at Tacbar seemingly buckled under pressure of the heat from the performance.
He was joined onstage by dancehall kitten Stalk Ashley to deliver their monster hit Narcissistic.
“It’s always nice to have your co-workers from the music industry on stage. A lot of co-workers were supposed to come, but because it was kinda short notice for them [they could not]. Big up Stalky, Zidii, Armanii, and everybody who forward out. Wi a dweet fi di culture,” said Valiant.
Zidii earned ‘forwards’ for his hit Formula, while Armanii created ripples with the trending hit Dunce Barbie.
Asked if the unplugged performance was introduction to a forthcoming project, Valiant said: “Mi nuh waan’ talk too much. More work and you’ll see it.”
Several people from the entertainment and sporting fraternity were in attendance at the event. Among them were football star Leon Bailey, music producer Markus Myrie, DJ Kryptic, and DJ Mac.
