Rebel Salute 2015: An Anthology Part One
The first female to hit the stage was Jah 9 and she brought life to the stage with a well organized set, which was on point in all her songs. She song with a passion when she reeled off songs like ‘New Name’, ‘Avocado’, ‘Preacher Man’, she topped off her set with a acoustic version of ‘Brothers’ off of the popular Honey Pot riddim produced by the German based Silly Walks Discotheque.Jah 9 truly set the tone for the start of rebel salute 2015. The first veteran to hit the stage was Hopeton James as he entered the stage his smooth unchanged voice belted out the hit song ‘Talk About Love’ and the venue was ignited by fans sang along with it. Next he sang ‘In The Mood’ and had the crowd going back in memory lane. It was when he sang his version of ‘Change Gonna Come’ however that was really received and show the icon’s range. Norris Man was up next with a uplifting performance. He entered with his signature tune ‘Persistence’ and again Priory, St Ann was instantly transformed to a sea of lighters, and flags. Norris, worked the stage briskly complete with backing vocals he went through his set with songs such as ‘Home and Away’, ‘She Never Knew It’ and closing it off with his song on the Red Bull and Guinness riddim ‘Big Long Gun’. The baton was then passed on to Junior Kelly who belted out hit after hit, ‘Love So Nice’ – one of his signature tunes went over well with the now massive crowd and also ‘Been There’ got wide spread reaction.
Iba Mahr was next and never hesitated to make full use of the stage with his signature roots man skanking. ‘Let Jah Lead The Way’ set the tone for Iba’s performance with other songs such as ‘Let Me Love You Girl’ and ‘Great Is H.I.M.’ on the Rootsman riddim forming great additions to the set. Iba Mahr ended his set with his most talked about single ‘Diamond Sox’ which had patrons jumping, and of course he had a special dance to go along the song. Next was the veteran Johnny Clarke and he too came out with a slew of hits such as ‘Rock With Me’, ‘Swing My Love’ and ‘None Shall Escape’. Johnny got a tremendous applause when he did his version of ‘Left With a Broken Heart’. The show’s host Tony Rebel gave a energetic performance, next, with a vast catalogue of songs he went through his set with songs like ‘Teach The Children’, ‘If Jah Is By My Side’, ‘Fresh Vegetable’ and ‘Love Fire’. He showed his class by showing he was more than just a producer or a promoter but, most importantly, a very professional artiste. The most anticipated band of the night was next to grace the stage: Third World and they did so in royal splendor as they had patrons there singing each song word for word in unison. Songs like ‘Try Jah Love’, 96 Degrees in The Shade’, ‘Now That We Found Love’, ‘Reggae Ambassador’, ‘Committed’, ‘Forbidden Love’ were skillfully introduced with perfect timing. This performance by Third World with lead singer Aj Brown was the biggest and most breathtaking performance for the night. Cat Coore did his stint on the chello with ease and to compliment the performance the drummer did a hypnotic drumming session that entranced the entire Rebel Salute.
With the exit of Third World, it was time to cool down the place and this was done so by Tarrus Riley. Just before he entered the stage Tarrus had a fire eater perform, this complimented his signature song ‘Shaka Zulu Pickney’. With songs like ‘Lion Paw’, ‘She’s Royal’, ‘Good Girl Gone Bad’, ‘Trapsetter’, Gimmie Likkle One Drop’, ‘Jah Never Leave I’ and ‘My Day’, Tarrus Riley and the Black Soil band with Dean Frazer gave a well tuned performance. For his entire set, Tarrus and his band was well connected, this was one of the most memorable performances at Rebel Salute. Other notable performances was by Jessie Royal who did his set with songs like ‘This Morning’ and ‘Modern Day Judas’, with modern day judas being the song that got Jessie the biggest forward from the crowd for the night. Richie spice came on and wasted no time in performing hit songs like ‘Earth a Run Red’, ‘Grooving My Girl’ and a song in tribute for Carl Dawkins ‘Satisfaction’. ‘Righteous Youth’, ‘Youth Dem Cold’ and ‘Marijuana’ completed Richie Spice performance.
Kabaka Pyramid I Wayne and Jah Mason all gave very impressive performances with the first night of rebel salute concluded on a very much fiery note with the king of fire – Capleton. Who from his entrance on the stage showed why he is called the king of fire. Capleton went through ‘Jah Jah City’, ‘Consuming’, ‘Or Wah’, his fire time anthem on the mad instrument riddim, and had patrons in the morning jumping up and putting their hands up as if it were an exercise tape. Capleton had the most energetic set , with him delivering hit after hit with his signature style of jumping he connected well with the audience.
Words: MusicPhill
Photos: MusicPhill & DJ Spoogy
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