–despite Kartel’s infamous ‘No Show’
THOUSANDS of dancehall fans couldn’t help but voice their disappointment last Friday when, mere hours before the start of Jamzone Regional Night, news spread like wildfire through social networking sites that Vybz Kartel, one of the headlining acts of the highly-anticipated concert had stepped off his flight to Guyana. As just about everyone knows, Kartel is to the Gaza posse what Movado is to Gully, and the two artistes have for the past few years had their fans under a spell with their lyrical feuding. Thus, when local entertainers, Hits & Jams broke the news some weeks ago that the two artistes would be on one stage on the same night, fans were in a frenzy to secure tickets to the groundbreaking event.
From all indications, Kartel, who has bailed out on Guyana before on no less than three occasions, had fully intended to uphold his end of the deal this time around…or so it seems.
The signs were all there, including the posting here of some members of his sizeable security detail ahead of his arrival; last-minute buying of airline tickets for additional members of his entourage and so on.
As such, in spite of his previous abandonments, no one saw this coming. An embarrassed Hits & Jams, during in a press conference just prior to the show, offered to refund the cost of all tickets, which caused many to wonder fleetingly whether the move was a precursor to widespread boycotting, or worse … rioting.
But the tremendous crowd of excited partygoers who turned up at the National Stadium at Providence, where the event was held, told quite a different story: People were out to party, Kartel or no Kartel.
Local artiste, Jory Douglas, known by all and sundry as just ‘Jory’, started the ball rolling with an energetic performance of tracks, both new and old.
Opening with one composed especially for the occasion named ‘Ah nah frighten Kartel’, he drove the crowd wild, to the point that he had them begging for more. It was a great night for ‘Jory’, who came into the spotlight two years ago with his ‘Limpy J’ saga. He did several more hard hitting ‘diss’ tracks before leaving the stage.
Another shining Guyanese star, Natural Black, who has also been making waves internationally, followed to do his bit, and though it was a predominantly dancehall show, the crowd showed their appreciation of the smooth reggae vibes he brought to the event by singing along with him to such instantly recognizable hits as ‘Far from reality’.
As with every other event, Hits & Jams DJ, Seon, did a fantastic job of hyping up the crowd, and this time around, it was easy, as when he asked all those who disagreed that Vybz Kartel dissed Guyanese people to raise their hands, there was not a hand in sight. Some chimed in with observations like: “Don’t trust a man who use cake-soap!” Every utterance of the name ‘Kartel’ elicited a resounding round of ‘boos’.
But screams and cheers filled the stadium when the ‘Gully God’, Mavado, ran onto the smoke-filled stage singing his 2008 hit, ‘I’m So Special’. Mavado was here just last year, but nobody seemed to mind this, as he has been consistently producing hits, and there is always something new to expect of him. For instance, the song ‘Delilah’ released in May of this year is currently an anthem heard in clubs and parties, on television, in vehicles and as ringtones.
Born David Constantine Brooks, the 29-year-old made his debut back in 2004 with the single,‘Real McKoy’  and even to this day, the song still packs a punch.
Other hits such as ‘Weh dem a do’, ‘Pon the housetop’ and ‘Starboy’ would follow as the evening progressed, and the crowd was not shy in voicing their preferences. Everybody wanted to hear something.
From the love shown the Jamaican artiste, and some of comments that were overheard, it seems that there was definitely a huge Gaza to Gully conversion for Jamzone Regional Night.
After a satisfying end to a splendid concert at around 03:00hrs, a soca vibe took over the stadium, and if you didn’t feel like going to the official party at Mojo’s nightclub on Main Street, you could have stayed where you were and ‘palance’ the rest of the morning away.