Reggaelution Delivers, December 6, 2008, Kingston

Buju Banton’s prowess as a crowd pleaser is world renown and based on his performance it should be exciting to see the line-up the promoters of It’s A Reggaelution put together for us next year.

Tuesday  December 9- Kingston Jamaica :- The early drizzle could not stop the host of patrons who descended on the Liguanae Club in new Kingston. Reggae fans have been waiting for a while to see It’s A Reggaelution come to life. It’s A Reggaelution was the first all inclusive with live performances to ever grace the shores of Jamaica and on Saturday December 6, 2008 patrons were not disappointed.

The night began with eclectic selections by Delano from Renaissance who masterfully had patrons swinging their hips and chanting to the lyrics of popular tunes from the eighties to the two thousands.  

Renaissance was followed by reggae’s newest sensation Rootz Underground fresh from their US tour. Rootz delivered a professional set belting out some of their more familiar hits intermingled with some of their lesser known tracks. Rootz filled It’s A Reggaelution with vibes of revolution and Rastafari upliftment. Rootz Underground was well received by the large crowd at the Liguanae Club and were followed by the strong one Etana.

Etana was sizzling; dressed in an ankle length dress with silver trim she radiated the poise and class of a top notch reggae princess. Etana gave a one hour set which featured songs such as Wrong Address, Jah Chariot, Roots, Warrior Love and Jah Blessing from her 2008 debut album The Strong One. Eager to please the fans Etana presented the strong vocals and heartfelt lyrics that she is known for.

Etana was the best precursor to the Gargamel Buju Banton. However, there is not much that can be said about Buju Banton’s performance and Buju Banton himself that has not been said already. The artiste who has been on the reggae and dancehall main stage since 1991 has transformed himself into a reggae messiah and can at a whim metamorphosize into either giving you A Close one Yesterday or being the Stamina Daddy in an instant. Buju Banton’s prowess as a crowd pleaser is world renown and based on his performance it should be exciting to see the line-up the promoters of It’s A Reggaelution put together for us next year.

After performing a full forty minute set Buju Banton invited is musical colleague and reggae’s new royalty Tarrus Riley on stage. Tarrus accompanied by Dean Fraser was amazing and both kept the crowd entertained with the high point being when Tarrus challenged Fraser to match his every note with his saxophone which Fraser did with alacrity.

At the end of Tarrus’ set Buju returned and presented the second half of his performance. Buju delved into his catalogue and brought out some of his most noted reggae tunes like I Wanna Be loved and Destiny to the enjoyment of the crowd which included many fellow performers such as Shaggy, Assasin, Spragga Benz and Voice Mail who had come out to enjoy the Reggaelution.

Promoter of the event and CEO of Rasta Rules Tara Palyfair-Scott is happy that the event went off without incident and that patrons were pleased with the performances, the setting and the overall concept.

“I am happy that we were able to make the first staging of It’s A Reggaelution a success. I thank Kingston Beer, Wysinco, Wray & Nephew and all the sponsors, the production team and support staff that made this first staging so sensational. We look forward to making next years staging being even better than this year; the Reggaelution will continue” – CEO Rasta Rules, Tara Playfair-Scott

By the time patrons left the Liguanae Club at three am they were still belting out tunes from all the great performances they had heard and as one patron said “I rocked , I bopped , I skanked and I partied my socks off… literally, It’s A Reggaelution more than delivered on it’s promise!”