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Have you seen the movie "The Fifth Element?" There's a scene in it where Milla Jovovitch's character Leeloo is trying to explain to Korben Dallas (Bruce Willis), about what will happen if they do not get the elements to earth. "Big Badda Boom," she says, "Big Badda Boom."

That's what happened when Bunji Garlin and the Asylum band dropped in to the capital of Scandinavia, Stockholm in Sweden, for "Tune In 2006," hosted by Selam. This is the third year of "Tune In," which Selam try to do in a different city in Sweden every other year in order to introduce different types of world music to Swedish society. This is one of the ways they achieve this as they also host concerts and seminars regarding different thought on word music.

The thing about Sweden, and indeed most of Scandinavia (and the US mind you), is that the vast majority of the media ownership is concentrated in large corporations which results in them playing what they think will sell and/or what's already selling. This leaves the population to be forced to listen to standard pop dribble marketed as 'Hip Hop' and 'RnB' or whatever. There is about ten hours of real radio on the government owned stations, and at least one good web radio Vibes46.com.

Having to listen to this trash all the time, all their life makes Swedes quite stiff, really proper and politically correct, which is far removed from the typical Caribbean persona. Luckily West Indians and many Swedes of West Indian heritage came from far and wide, we spoke to one group who had come from Gothenburg, which is at least seven hours diving time away.

TJJ got there early to get an interview with Bunji, but due to time constraints we had to wait till after the concert, so half an hour before the show was to start we were at the venue, which was quite empty but you know everybody was on their way (Trini time again). Uncle Eric, Stockholm's resident Trini DJ, started warming the rapidly growing crowd around 9:15pm with some vintage kaiso and some tried and tested favourites. By 9:45pm, the big flags were out and you could see Trinidad and Tobago, Cuba, Haiti, Barbados, Grenada, St. Vincent all dancing in the air, a sign of things to come.

Ten o'clock, the Asylum Band onstage and sound checked, Mam Foon from "Tune In" introduces the crowd to Uncle Eric who hypes up the crowd and brings on Bunji, in an explosion of sound and light. Up to this point nobody was really sure what to expect, but the raw enthusiasm of the people that would rather be nowhere else in the world than at a soca show drove both Bunji and the crowd that came to just watch to that higher plane where one was feeding off the energy of the other and that energy was tossed around and around and higher and higher, till it turned to a blur of flags and rags and happy faces all around.

The turning point, to us, was about half an hour into the set when Bunji asked the Asylum Band to go low, looked at the crowd in their collective eye and said "everybody point left", and so they did, then, with the music pumping higher and higher he said, "when I say go, we all go left". All the Swedish people looked at each other quizzically "what?" they thought. "Go where?" Bunji says go, some people go, most people get out of the way. "Come back right" he says, clearly not happy. "This time, we all go, now point left." The Asylum Band now driving the beat, "1, 2 ... 1, 2, 3, 4" and what seemed like a sea of people washed across that market square, and then back again, the rapture evident in Bunji's face. He made us do it again and again, the security going apeshit, screaming into their wrists, one security (vaktare in Swedish) Dino, said in years of experience in Sweden, he had never seen anything like it, the closest thing being a Heavy Metal band telling the crowd to sit on the ground and shut up.

It was an indescribable feeling, and this was echoed by Bunji himself later on when we asked him about the crowd response. After that moment, when we were being taken from left to right, together, it changed from a concert to an interactive journey to another dimension, where time did not exist and the soccer dance and the rag in your hand was all that mattered. We saw a Chris Birchall wining on the floor, old ladies doing the twist and the crowd turn Hötorget into a Galaxy of light when Bunji asked the crowd for a light and as one, mobile phones and lighters were turned on and held aloft.

From Bunji's signature cry of 'Fyyyyerrr,' to the Asylum Band's drummer playing the drums with one hand and with Bunji's mic in the other singing his version of "Hotel California", to the lead guitarist soloing with his teeth... it was a masterful performance, the crowd eating out of their collective hand. This was made evident, three encores later, when we heard Bunji's manager, Ian Pantin (IP Music International), telling Bunji, "Oh Gawd Bunji, gi dem one more nah, yuh hadda gi dem one more!!" It was one more rounds of Fire Man, then the show was over.

Nuff respect to Bunji and the Asylum, who signed autographs and posters for what seemed like an hour for their new found fans, and not one went away wanting. TJJ interviewed Bunji last (read TJJ's Bunji Interview), then it was off to the after party at Bar Brazil XL, compliments of Uncle Eric where the whole side enjoyed live steel pan, soca and salsa till the wee wee hours.

TJJ have to big up Sandra and Mam at Selam, Uncle Eric and Thomas Gylling from Bar Brazil and everybody else who was there, you all made it a special night!