Jr Gong Marley is a terrific show all by himself
IT is a fact, the late Jamaican reggae star Bob Marley is the most known and revered performer of the genre, and maybe will always be.
This is a hard act to follow and having a dad this legendary can lead to murmurs – let’s be brutally honest here – that you are sponging off the family name. This is even if you’ve won some of the highest accolades that have been granted to a musician. The youngest son of Bob, Damian ‘Jr. Gong’ Marley, shut his ‘haters’ up though, leaving them talking long after leaving the  National Stadium Saturday night, where he gave one of the best and most substantial performances ever to grace the venue. Performing for over two hours, Jr. Gong showed that, with no disrespect to Bob, he is a star in his own right, with tunes like the  spiritual ‘It was written’ with its haunting chorus, to  the defiant ‘Welcome to Jamrock’ or the tender love ballad ‘Affairs of the Heart’.
Like many Guyanese, I had my first taste of Damian’s music with the release of the tremendously popular ‘Welcome to Jamrock’ released in 2005 on an album of the same name. The song blared out about passing cars, at clubs, record bars, homes and even on University of Guyana campus. Who doesn’t remember singing along : “Welcome to Jamrock, camp whe’ da’ thugs them camp at, Two pounds a weed inna van back, It inna your hand bag, your knapsack, it inna your back pack, The smell a give yah girlfriend contact, Some boy nuh know dis, them only come around like tourist, On the beach with a few club sodas”. It went on to win two 2006 Grammy Awards for Best Reggae Album and Best Urban/Alternative Performance.
The star who was the headlining act of FAM fest reggae night sent an already hyped up party crowd into near fits of excitement by entering to the intro from ‘Confrontation’. The intro, for those who don’t know it by name, is the stop you in your tracks message delivered in terrifying style by Bunny Wailer at the start of the ‘Welcome to Jamrock’ album. To refresh your memory: “Mr. President, Distinguished delegates…Since the beginning of modern civilization, Generations have witnessed and inherited the only conflicts of world wars, But behold the marriage supper of the lamb and the bridegroom onto his bride, Then shall the earth’s children know the true expression of ONE LOVE, Then mother earth shall honeymoon in peace. Forever eliminating the aspirations, lust and anguish of wars and rumours of wars…SELAH!”
The screams were audible as the performer made his entrance simply attired in a monochromatic suit. As one of those who had never seen the artiste in stage performing mode, I wondered how Damian with his serious mien, would relate to a party crowd. Not to fear, this is one performer who proved that less is more. Unlike most artistes, there were no fancy stage illusions or props, no fancy costumes, no skimpily clad back up dancers. None was necessary; Damian showed that you can hold an audience’s attention with good vibes, energy, and really good sound quality.
Note to future National Stadium stage performers, this was no accident, band members put admirable effort into  tuning their instruments, making technical checks to make certain there would be absolutely no sound glitches.
It was a hustle and bustle on stage that Saturday afternoon and never having seen the great artiste live, one mistook one hard working guitarist for Jr. Gong himself in a cringe worthy moment. Good thing I am not an assassin as I didn’t realize my mistake until I saw the artiste on stage with his double that night. My apologies to Marley and his doppelganger.
Besides his delightful precision and minimalist style as an artiste, Damian turned out to be a wonderfully generous performer. Many thought the concert was over when things came to a climax with the anticipated hit ‘Affairs of the heart’. After all, the artiste had already given us more than an hour and a half of stage time. What more could we ask for? Jr. Gong left the stage and the media started to put away their cameras, some were already headed to the gate. But there was more; one of Damian’s entourage came and asked if anyone wanted to hear more Jr. Gong, a query that was answered by a resounding roar. The audience could hardly believe their good fortune as Damian came on stage and gave us some more, not only covering some of his father’s songs, but singing ‘Welcome to Jamrock’. It was only at this point that many realised that the concert was so good we didn’t realise he hadn’t performed this mega hit.

Leaving the stadium at minutes to two on Sunday morning, satisfied attendees were saying ‘Good show’. To quote one of my Facebook peeps, Dax Kissoon, of the family most known for their furniture:  “Best concert in GT evaaa…!” (He would know something he’s been to hundreds of them).
Though ‘Welcome to Jamrock’ is probably his best known album here, I was pleasantly surprised to discover the 33-year-old artiste (born July 221, 1978) is currently at his fifth album.
At age 13, he formed a musical group by the name of the Shephards, which included the daughter of Freddie McGregor and son of Third World’s Cat Core. The group opened the 1992 Reggae Sunsplash festival. The band fell apart in the early 1990s and Damian started his solo career.
His debut album ‘Mr. Marley’ was released in 1996 with the backing of his father’s label Tuff Gong.
His second album, ‘Halfway’ Tree was released in 2001. It brought him much recognition, remaining on the Billboard top reggae albums chart for 158 weeks, and winning the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album.

His third album, ‘Welcome to Jamrock’, was released in September 2005, named after the hugely successful song of the same name. The lyrics to the single “Welcome to Jamrock”, which was performed over a rhythm produced by Sly and Robbie for Ini Kamoze some 20 years earlier, centered on poverty, politics and crime in Jamaica. While the single was controversial at home, over its perceived negative viewpoint of the island, many praised the content of the song.
On May 17, 2010, Marley released ‘Distant Relatives’, a collaborative album with Nas. The album title refers not only to the bond between the artistes, but the connection to their African ancestry, which inspired the album both musically and lyrically. In 2011 he released ‘Superheavy’.
FAM fest, which would have concluded with a grand soca/chutney concert last night, was part of the nation’s 46th Independence Anniversary celebrations, and is coordinated by Guyenterprise, in partnership with the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport and the Ministry of Tourism, which together realized the need for a national event similar to those held in other Caribbean countries to promote tourism and attract people from around the world to Guyana.
In their overview of FAM fest, Guyenterprise states that their vision is to create an event that provides a platform to showcase Guyana to a broad cross section of visitors, and encourage Guyanese overseas to return home and join in Independence celebrations every year.
Guyenterprise said the event, which was put together after researching successful festivals around the Caribbean, is expected to grow every year and benefit Guyana’s economy. This festival will be the fourth event in a series of successful, family-oriented events produced by Guyenterprise, in collaboration with corporate partners.
The event, scheduled for the Guyana National Stadium, was expected to educate and entertain an expected audience of between 15,000 and 25,000 persons. There were also cultural mini villages depicting clothing, food, music and craft of Guyana’s six races.