Allyuh know dat Jah Cure was in jail fuh ah few years rite ..... so de las time he come tuh Trini was in Dec 07 ..... which was kinda like ah real big scene ...... cuz is years before dat ....... he hadn't graced our shores ....... so anyway ...... yuh done know ...... dat once I pass tru someting big like ah Jah Cure concert ...... ah have tuh drop meh lil two cents ...... but before ah talk bout last nite (yeah - ah went last nite) ..... ah tort I'd post meh review on de '07 concert ...... cuz WOW ...... last nite was REAL different ...... and den suddenly ..... it was real dejavu .....



Jah Cure - December 07


Yuh know when yuh gyul make certain 'turns' ..... tryin tuh play like she grassroots and rootsy ...... certain people ..... who does never be interested in dem kyna turns ...... does still want tuh maco how de session play off ...... especially when de session is bravin de GENERAL ADMISSION crowd at ah Jah Cure concert ......

...... and oh ...... what ah crowd it was ....... I swear ..... if de Stadium could hold 30,000 people ...... den 30,000 people was dey ...... the concert was billed as the biggest conscious reggae concert fuh de decade ...... not de year eh ..... de decade ...... and ..... it looked like that was no idle boast ...... people real come out tuh see dey Jah Cure ...... but den again ....... is 9 long years we wait eh ...... not 9 short years ..... or 9 medium-length years ....... but 9 LONG years (as was pumped into our psyches by de promotional radio ads) .....

De show was supposed tuh start at 9:00 pm ...... I reach late (as usual) ....... about 11:50 pm ..... and I soon discovered ...... that after waiting 9 long years ..... I would have to wait even longer ....... about 2 1/2 hours!!! ..... when I got there ...... Phanton Moja was on .......

Screeeech!!!! ..... Hold up!!!! ...... how I reach quite dey ahready ....... REVERSE!!!!!!

Leh meh start at de top ....... ah purposely went late ...... cuz ah wasn't really interested in de appetizer ...... ah jus wanted de main course ...... de meat ....... Jah Cure!

BIG MISTAKE ........ cuz like dem rastas was meat lovers too!! ...... cuz ME ...... an' about half of de 30,000 people ....... reach de same time!!!!

PARKING ....... BIG PROBLEM ...... only the VIPs were afforded secured parking in de Stadium ...... which is understandable ...... cuz after all they are Very Important People ....... altho ah man from de VIP tell meh is more like "Vex I Paid" ...... cuz he say he couldn't get cigarettes in VIP ..... so he had tuh leave his Very Important Place ...... tuh come outside tuh buy cigarettes ....... OMG!!! ...... anyway ........ jumping right back on de 'parking' track ....... GENERAL ADMISSION (GA) had tuh fight up fuh de highway ...... de miscellaneous islands on de highway ....... side streets in Woodbrook ....... people yard ...... businesses parkin lots ..... Movie Towne ...... yuh get de picture ...... one car park I think ....... was made available fuh GAs ..... and dat coulda only hold about 50 cars ..... I doh know how all dem people reach in de Stadium ........ and whey dey park ...... clearly bus an' maxi was workin overtime dat nite ..... I had tuh park quite tuh arse on de street wit More Vino!!

ENTRY ....... BIGGER PROBLEM ....... there was ...... one ....... ONE!!! ..... small ...... SMALL!!! ....... very small entrance fuh de thousands of GAs tuh access!!! ...... being in dat crowd tryin tuh get in ....... was like how sardines muzbe does feel in dey lil can ...... but ...... lookin at de glass half full ....... ah lose weight ..... cuz at least 10 lbs was squeezed out of me by de time I get tru dat scaffoldin ...... den there was light ...... and fresh air ..... and space ..... well not space really ..... more like freedom ...... I could breathe again ...... now it was off tuh de bar ..... tuh get ah drink and settle eeeeeen .......

DRINKS ....... BIGGEST PROBLEM ....... there were about 3 - 4 standard size bars ...... tuh serve thousands of GAs ....... man was buyin drinks by de case ...... it was dat bad ...... once yuh got tuh de top of de line ..... there was no goin' back tuh de bar fuh de rest of de nite ..... so man jus buy cases of drinks wit ice ..... I drink one Gatorade (ughhhhh!!!) fuh de whole nite ...... dat was de only ting yuh coulda get wit ease!

So now dat ah was finally on de inside ...... I was blown away by de crowd ...... not only by de size eh ...... but by de wack creativity .......

Trinis sweet too bad ...... like chocolate ...... an' was all kinds of 'chocolate' dey last nite ...... milk chocolate ...... dark chocolate ....... dots of white chocolate ....... nobody woulda ever believe ..... dat it rained night and day straight ..... fuh de past 4 days .... cuz sistas was out ..... dress tuh kill ...... stylez unlimited ....... no fear of rain dat nite ....... was weave ....... eyes ..... nails ....... stilettos ....... fur coats ....... winter boots ...... gold ....... jah rastafari getups - everyting green, red and yellow ....... whole outfits wit Jah Cure airbrush on it ..... an' doh talk bout de bruthas ...... not tuh be outdone ....... dem too was dress tuh kill (some literally) ..... who didn't have dread locks ...... had orn dey kangol ....... who didn't have orn gold teet ..... had orn dey gold chain (wit medallion) ....... who didn't have orn dey wife beater ..... had orn full suits ...... yep ....... in black, white, army green, gold, turquoise, khaki, patterned ..... you name de colour ...... somebody had orn ah suit in it ...... and of course all the outfits were accessorized wit ah lil red, green and yellow ...... but sorry ....... no pics ..... didn't walk wit meh camera ...... as ah matter of fact ...... didn't walk wit anyting ....... no camera, no cell phone, no jewelry, no big money ........ nuttin!!!

So anyway ...... as ah was sayin about 10 paragraphs ago ...... ah reach late ...... about 11:50 pm ....... when I got there Phanton Moja was on ....... but I didn't really take eeeen his performance ...... cuz at dat time ....... ah was still tryin tuh ketch meh bearings and absorb all de beauty around meh ...... soon enough he was gone tho ..... and Pinchers came on ..... I doh know him ...... he come ...... he sing bout 4 - 5 songs ..... an' den someting cut off ...... de generator or sumtin ..... so dat was de end of he ..... finally ....... next up was Jah Cure!

After about another 20 minutes of waiting ...... it became obvious dat Jah Cure was probably still 'prepping' himself fuh his long awaited performance ...... and that he probably would not come out fuh about another 20 minutes ...... so I decided tuh find a seat in de stands ....... which proved tuh be a very good idea ...... cuz now I was off my feet ...... and very comfortable ......

I sat among about 20 other people ...... nicely scattered ....... so nobody was blocking anybody ....... it was kinda far from de stage tho ...... Jah Cure would appear like ah ant ...... actually nah ...... ah lil bigger ...... like ah bachack maybe ....... but there were about 4 big screens ...... so it was OK ..... and now that I was on top ...... WOW again ...... that crowd ..... beautiful ....... so colourful ....... so well behaved ....... not a scuffle ....... not a fight ...... everybody was jus on ah nice heights

Alas ...... the time had come ..... Jah Cure was now fully 'prepped' ....... de intro music was queued and start playin ....... he was ready tuh come out ...... but ...... to my surprise (and horror!) ....... after all de hype ....... Empress Jenielle come out on de stage instead ...... STEUPS! ..... izza vibe ...... izza feelin ...... jah rastafari ...... remember she ...... from Tempo ....... well talk about ah anti-climax ...... my gyul come out wit she fake Convent Yankee Rasta accent ...... and start tuh spew ah setta Jah Rastafari rhetoric ..... jus tuh introduce Jah Cure eh ...... STEUPS!

History would show ...... that Jah Cure 's performance was punctuated by de Empress ...... at least 3 more times fuh de nite ....... STEUPS!

But anyway ...... barring dat lil faux pas ..... my boy eventually came out (in all black) ...... much tuh de delight of de masses ...... the crowd went wild ...... they screamed, they cheered, they waved their flags, they flashed their lighters ....... they couldn't get enuff ...... they sang every word of every song ..... and even though I could only really hear him ..... and not see him ...... I had it nice ..... my own private entertainment ...... cuz standing just about 2 feet in front of me ...... was my very own Beenie Man look-alike who performed every song .....

Jah Cure didn't disappoint ..... de man have real songs (I didn't realise) ...... and I doh tink he even sing all (that we know) ...... jus like milk ...... jail definitely did a body good ...... de man ...... cuz like de man write real tunes in jail!

...... he performed fuh 1 hour and 20 mins ..... and he could real sing too ..... he sound jus like his CD ...... jus like on de radio ..... he change his clothes about 3 times ...... an' oh gorm he look good!! ...... his final outfit was real regal lookin ..... like ah kinda military style suit (of course adorned wit ah lil red, green and yellow!) ..... and oh ...... is durin dem outfit changes dat de Empress came out on de stage ...... as filler ...... she talk real shit bwoy ...... cuz she's not ah adlib kinda gal ...... she need ah script ....... STEUPS ....... lucky fuh me doh ...... ah had orn meh shit filter ...... so ah cyah really recall de shit she talk ..... ah jus remember her sayin sumtin bout Jah Cure never get ah big crowd like dat in Trini before ...... an' how he gonna be filmin (de crowd) fuh his new video ...... blah, blah, blah - zone out!

Anyway ...... by 3:40 am ...... it was all over ......

Leaving the venue was ah breeze ...... getting tuh de car was ah breeze ...... and gettin home was ah breeze ...... all in all ...... twas ah nite well spent ....... he came ...... he cured ...... JAH!!!