Sunday evening through to early Monday January 29 to 30) morning I was in Downtown Kingston. Orange Street, to be more precise was blessed by the good vibrations of music. Hundreds of people, from just out of hand toddlers to grey headed Elders of the community were in Orange Street to share in the celebration of the life and musical legacy of the Crowned Prince of Reggae. The Dennis Brown Tribute Concert was a produced by the Jamaica Reggae Industry Association (JaRIA) The concert was the first of many activities slated for Reggae Month (February) 2012.
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| Orange Street Big Yard |
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| Dennis Emmanuel Brown , the Crowned Prince of Reggae |
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| Orange Street |
The free concert was had a star-studded lineup. Headliners included Marcia Griffith, Maxi Priest, Freddie McGregor, Tony Rebel, Duane Stephenson, Ibra Mahr, Junior Reid, Shaggy, Half Pint, Big Yute, Ken Boothe, George Nooks, Bryan Hart, John Holt, Jimmy Riley
The concert offered a platform for up-coming artistes. Among the new acts the band Raging Fyah offered a stella performance singing their intense ode Rastafari "Judgement Day".
Myself and many other patrons were truly excited to see the sons of the King of Reggae Bob Marley perform. They did not disappoint, Damian "Junior Gong" Marley, Stephen Marley and Julian Marley. Stephen Marley open the performance with his chart topping hit "Traffic Jam", the trio performed mega- hits like "It is Written", "Welcome to Jamrock" and quite befitting to the tribute concert the Gongs performed "Promised Land" ft Dennis Brown off Damian Marley-Nas 2010 collaborative album Distance Relatives.
The star of the night was Taurus Riley. Taurus Riley "Singy-Singy" wowed the crowd with a powerful performance of his Pan-African Anthem "Shaka Zulu Pickney " He kept the momentum going performing Dennis Brown songs and thrilling the patrons with his hits like "Good Girl Gone Bad" and She's Royal"
Downtown Kingston has a bad reputation and I work Downtown and I try to tell people that they are wrong the area is not really violent. The people are aggressive because of the environment poor education, high levels of illiteracy, high levels of unemployment and poverty. But looking beyond that and seeing the people of Downtown Kingston they are good people. So I went to the concert in Downtown with all these people who are considered the worst in Jamaica and I was truly happy being there among them sharing in the music and the good vibrations it was an awesome experience. The concert didn't end until 2:30 in the morning my feet hurt and were swollen way into the next day but that did not matter the experience was just amazing.
HAPPY 67th EARTHSTRONG BOB MARLEY
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