Rockers Takeover brings back authentic dancehall

Rockers Takeover was a MasterCard presented event held on Saturday 22nd 2020 that needs to rewind! The clean sounds of Jamaican ’70s & 80s’ music rocked Chelsea Avenue. One patron mentioned that once he heard the vuvuzelas on his way to the event he knew that the event would be certainly be a vibe. Upon arriving from start to finish was perfection, in his eyes. From the flooring made of old dancehall fliers, and the dated dancehall clips, to the ” come inna the dance sign” with the peanut cart man, sugar cane and coconut man even the freshly fried sprat. Everything was done to perfection!

The event, which was curated by Melanie Wynter who was dubbed all night as the “1 week promoter”, showcased an attention to details beyond compare. Rockers started with Peter Metro taking the mic to educate the patrons of the dancehall, which was then followed by a short documentary on dancehall and the origin of reggae, sound system and clash culture. This lead to a Young Veteran Sound Clash, when we asked Melanie Wynter why this was so important to be apart of the show she mentioned “We have to nurture, educate and motivate our young talent. Without that foreigners will become better at our music than us”. Both young DJs rocked, and held the clash track for track using primarily 70s and 80s music. One patron stated “I have never experienced any dance so relaxing, different yet fun – experiencing the Foundation of our music was supreme”.

After the clash Max Romeo and his children took to the stage then Trixstar, a foreign reggae artist, rocked the crowd with her sounds. When Natural High took the stage with the unusual flute | piano instrument they gave us a fusion of the 70s,80s dancehall with their own sound. Natural High, which are the producers of Wayne Marshall ‘Glory to God’, brought to the stage the essence of youth while respecting their foundation.

They also backed Johnny Osbourne when it was time for him to give us his many, many hits, one patron remarked “I didn’t realise the amount of hits he had – I love ice cream love”.

To say Johnny Osbourne is underrated is an understatement! Immediately after Johnny, to our surprise Junior Reid ran on with One Blood, performing a number of his songs then in another surprise Ricky Trooper took to the turntable. It was nostalgic as you could sense he felt at home again, the show which ran on time ended with Ricky Trooper freestyling about the “1 week promoter”, and all the activities of the night he found hilarious.