Place: Queen's Park Savannah
Cost: Unknown (I not too sure, scalpers were selling VIP tickets at $200)
It's been AGES since I have been to an outdoor concert. I mean real years, like since my late teen years. But when I heard that big black dutty Shabba was coming to our shores, I said this was a concert I HAD to be at! I have NEVER before seen Shabba in concert and I was certainly not going to miss this one, and then earlier in the week I was fortunate enough to get an All Access Pass to the concert :)
After being told earlier that the concert was scheduled to start at 9:00pm, we left home just after 10, and got to the venue (Savannah) around 10:30pm. After parking in the VIP/VVIP area we were told that we had to walk to the “General Admission” entrance which is where we would be ‘banded’ as we had the “All Access” passes.
Getting into the venue was easy enough, although there could have been some signage at earlier points to identify the parking areas. We produced our tickets at the gate, got banded and then went on our way.
The backstage area was a very big space and we walked through to meet our peeps in the VIP and VVIP area.
I took the time to walk thorugh the General Admission area which was already filled with people and people were still at that time streaming into the venue.
Shortly before midnight Wayne Wonder (who by the way pronounces his name as Wayne and NOT Wayne-ee as I’ve been accustomed to all these years) took the stage. Dressed in jeans, striped shirt and matching jacket Wayne took the crowd on a Joyride through his many hits, and they were appreciative.
While waiting for Buju’s band to set up on stage we were err…”entertained” by DJ Dangerous Robin who was another overly talkative DJ. Thankfully, that didn’t go on for too long.
The place was wet. Shabba’s antics had the crowd entertained from beginning to end. From Wicked Inna Bed to Ting a Ling to Mr. Loverman to Housecall and Telephone Love, we got Shabba's Greatest Hits 2009 version. Shabba showed the crowd that his waist was indeed still ready and he was very able.
Towards the end of his performance Mr. Loverman brought on our very own Denise “Saucy Wow” Belfon on stage and together they brought the house down and closed the curtains on the I Am Legend Concert II at about 3:40am.
BAR/FOOD
There were several bars throughout the venue.
The first bar I encountered was the bar in the Backstage/Artiste area which was a pay bar (which seemed a bit odd to me).
With the All Access band however, you could walk between areas. In the VVIP area you could access free drink and food (bake and shark and corn flavoured water).
The bar in the VIP area was free food only (more bake and shark and corn flavoured water).
Decent service form the Angostura bar.
BATHROOMS
For a minute I thought there were Andy Loos in the VVIP area, but it was just SWMCOL. Hmmm...is this a sign of things to come for Carnival 2010? Unfortunately because of the long lines I was not able to properly macco...err...observe the bathrooms other than from the outside.
The worst part of the concert was afterwards in trying to leave the venue.
It was a free for all with people driving on the pavement of the Savannah to leave! Real ridiculous. It took us about 40 minutes to get out of the Savannah and I think if there was better traffic control/police presence this could have been much better.
Overall this concert was GREAT! The flow of this concert was smooth and clean. No long waits between performances and EXCELLENT performers.
Cost: Unknown (I not too sure, scalpers were selling VIP tickets at $200)
It's been AGES since I have been to an outdoor concert. I mean real years, like since my late teen years. But when I heard that big black dutty Shabba was coming to our shores, I said this was a concert I HAD to be at! I have NEVER before seen Shabba in concert and I was certainly not going to miss this one, and then earlier in the week I was fortunate enough to get an All Access Pass to the concert :)
After being told earlier that the concert was scheduled to start at 9:00pm, we left home just after 10, and got to the venue (Savannah) around 10:30pm. After parking in the VIP/VVIP area we were told that we had to walk to the “General Admission” entrance which is where we would be ‘banded’ as we had the “All Access” passes.
While parking we heard performances by General Grant and Peter C Lewis, and I was thankful that my timing had allowed me to miss the latter.
Getting into the venue was easy enough, although there could have been some signage at earlier points to identify the parking areas. We produced our tickets at the gate, got banded and then went on our way.
The backstage area was a very big space and we walked through to meet our peeps in the VIP and VVIP area.
Shortly after making our way to the VIP area, Ziggy Rankin made his was onto the stage and sang some of his tunes for the crowd.
The show moved effortlessly from Ziggy to the overly talkative DJ’s.
I took the time to walk thorugh the General Admission area which was already filled with people and people were still at that time streaming into the venue.
Shortly before midnight Wayne Wonder (who by the way pronounces his name as Wayne and NOT Wayne-ee as I’ve been accustomed to all these years) took the stage. Dressed in jeans, striped shirt and matching jacket Wayne took the crowd on a Joyride through his many hits, and they were appreciative.
While waiting for Buju’s band to set up on stage we were err…”entertained” by DJ Dangerous Robin who was another overly talkative DJ. Thankfully, that didn’t go on for too long.
One of Buju’s hype men (whose name I missed) then performed for a brief spell before the man himself graced the stage.
Buju came on at about 1:20am amidst endless screams from the crowd. Dressed in a long sleeved striped shirt and khaki pants, Buju then proceeded to totally destroy the crowd Til Shiloh and back.
Giving a very energetic performance Buju went from hit after hit after hit, it was like listening to a CD “Best of Buju – Ever” and the crowd sang along tune after tune after tune.
Buju brought on Wayne Wonder and the two of them sang one of my favorite tunes (that takes me back to Bishop's Form 3 bazaar) Bonafide Love (“But I Love you in every waayyyyy”).
As Buju bid the crowd good night and before you could even take a breather (and go use the bathroom), amidst some Jamaican flag waving stage performers, big black dutty Shabba appeared on stage promptly at 2:30am.
Giving a very energetic performance Buju went from hit after hit after hit, it was like listening to a CD “Best of Buju – Ever” and the crowd sang along tune after tune after tune.
Buju brought on Wayne Wonder and the two of them sang one of my favorite tunes (that takes me back to Bishop's Form 3 bazaar) Bonafide Love (“But I Love you in every waayyyyy”).
As Buju bid the crowd good night and before you could even take a breather (and go use the bathroom), amidst some Jamaican flag waving stage performers, big black dutty Shabba appeared on stage promptly at 2:30am.
And the crowd went insane.
Coming out in a gold brocade jacket, green fedora and white pants, The Dancehall Emperor took what was left of the crowd after Buju, put them back together just to mash dem up all over again.
The place was wet. Shabba’s antics had the crowd entertained from beginning to end. From Wicked Inna Bed to Ting a Ling to Mr. Loverman to Housecall and Telephone Love, we got Shabba's Greatest Hits 2009 version. Shabba showed the crowd that his waist was indeed still ready and he was very able.
Shabba performs "Mr. Loverman"
Towards the end of his performance Mr. Loverman brought on our very own Denise “Saucy Wow” Belfon on stage and together they brought the house down and closed the curtains on the I Am Legend Concert II at about 3:40am.
BAR/FOOD
There were several bars throughout the venue.
The first bar I encountered was the bar in the Backstage/Artiste area which was a pay bar (which seemed a bit odd to me).
With the All Access band however, you could walk between areas. In the VVIP area you could access free drink and food (bake and shark and corn flavoured water).
The bar in the VIP area was free food only (more bake and shark and corn flavoured water).
Decent service form the Angostura bar.
BATHROOMS
For a minute I thought there were Andy Loos in the VVIP area, but it was just SWMCOL. Hmmm...is this a sign of things to come for Carnival 2010? Unfortunately because of the long lines I was not able to properly macco...err...observe the bathrooms other than from the outside.
The worst part of the concert was afterwards in trying to leave the venue.
It was a free for all with people driving on the pavement of the Savannah to leave! Real ridiculous. It took us about 40 minutes to get out of the Savannah and I think if there was better traffic control/police presence this could have been much better.
Overall this concert was GREAT! The flow of this concert was smooth and clean. No long waits between performances and EXCELLENT performers.
