Rebel Salute 2016: Opening Night

An event that used to be an annual pilgrimage for me personally sadly has seen my absence for the last few years. So much so that I had not yet been a part of the now two day festival nor even visited the new site in Priory, St. Ann after years experiencing Rebel Salute at the Port Kaiser Sports Club in St. Elizabeth. However I made it a point of duty to make the trek to St. Ann to actually to see if the Salute experience was as good as I remembered. And boy it was and then some! We arrived at the venue, both nights, after the festivities were well on the way, not for any other reason other than to pace ourselves for what we knew would be an all-night/early morning affair. The audio setup was the first thing that we experienced and it must be said that there was not an area within, or even a little bit outside of, the gates that you couldn’t hear exactly what was happening on the stage. The arrangement of several monitors across the grounds really helped everyone in attendance to be able to see the concert in ways that only a television audience would previously be able to. To that point the lighting and graphics were in sync with whichever band happened to be on the stage and their respective cues. It was easy to observe that band changes while although a necessity was maybe the only thing that happened during the performance times that the patrons present would murmur about. Because what was actually happening on the stage, reached and in most cases surpassed what was expected. Young budding acts such as EarthKry, Kelissa, The Wizard and Runkus acquitted themselves well to the task of entertaining the ever filling crowd on the opening night.

And while the nostalgia was brought to fore by the likes of Tanto Metro and Devante. The Congos, The Heptones, Tony Gregory, Pluto Shervington and Ernie Smith the real fire began when the man with the hottest song currently on most local playlists, ‘My Dream’ Nesbeth entered the fray. He delivered one of the sets of the night, bobbing and weaving throughout his catalogue with an energy of a man truly enjoying his moment in the spotlight after years of crafting pseudo hits in the shadows. Hometown or to be more accurate home parish act Hero, formerly Little Hero, controlled his set with songs like ‘God Alone’ and ‘Inna Di Ghetto’ and really kept the crowd energized.

The likes of Chezidek, Nature and L.U.S.T kept the patrons moving and grooving with an assortment of hits but it took the host and birthday boy Tony Rebel taking the stage to set the bar on the night even higher. With a slew of his older recordings setup with his newer musings; Rebel serenaded the ladies, reasoned with bredrins and taught the youths all at the same time. Rebel used his time wisely which led right into what most would consider the performance of the night which came from dancehall veteran Sanchez. Sanchez seemingly was born with the ability to take any song he chooses and make it his own. What he did make his own for sure was the stage as he performed his complete set and was even persuaded to return to stage after exiting prematurely in the eyes of the now capacity crowd. After Sanchez’s exit and with a new level set, the next and final wave of acts came and thrilled the now tired throng. Bugle and Kabaka Pyramid delivered what was expected while Richie Spice and Everton Blender put forth vintage performances. Luciano belted out the songs such as ‘Give Praise’ and ‘It’s Me Again Jah’ that made him a worldwide phenomenon not too long ago. Louie Culture and Jah Mason combined for a hit for hit back and forth as a final treat before Louie gave way leaving Jah Mason to close the show the right way. In totality, this night was an excellent start to Rebel Salute 2016 setting the platform for what should be an even better closing night.