Photos by Andre C. Choo Quan/Rae L.
page 1 of 6

Pre-Mother's Day Driver Concert

Less than two months after Machel Montano HD (view coverage) did two sold out performances at The Theater at Madison Square Garden, Dahved Levy (radio personality 107.5 WBLS) with GB: God Bless and Don Grant of Roti Plus managed to sell out the Garden once again, this time with reggae/dancehall icon Buju Banton headlining the concert. On this special night, Machel Montano and retired NBA New York Knickerbocker and Jamaican national Patrick Ewing were special guests.

After finally getting our media credentials sorted, we managed to catch the tail end of Trinidadian Reggae artist Khari Kill, who ended his performance with his debut single "Picture of Selassie". MC DJ Roy (Road International) then had a challenge to keep the Garden crowd entertained until the next act was ready. It wasn't too long before MC Chris the Dub Master joined DJ Roy on stage to introduce upcoming dancehall artist Da'Ville, who delivered a soulful performance. The ladies couldn't get enough of his sweet voice, and "Always On My Mind" was indeed the crowd's favourite.

Around 9pm, to the crowd's delight the first Lady of Dancehall Lady Saw was introduced. The dancehall diva performed some of her past hits ("Backshot", "Woman Wi Name", "Hardcore") and a couple of her hits from her latest album "Walk Out". Out course if wouldn't be Lady Saw if she didn't have some advice for the ladies on how to keep your man in check as she strutted on stage constantly hiking up the front of her dress. Saw also showed love for her fans when she got personal sharing her experience with the lost of her unborn child, before singing "No Less Than A Woman (Infertility)".

The excitement was heighten even more when the Shiloh Band started jammin' as Gargamel Music artist New Kidz got things warmed up. The crowd jumped to their feet when Buju aka Gargamel burst onto the stage and started to tear down the Garden. One again it was a Hitalotathon®! Chunes from 'Maxi Dub' days ("Batty Rider", "Deportee", "Willy Don't Be Silly") and chunes ("Easy Road", "Hills & Valleys", "Til Shiloh", "Destiny", "Untold Stories") from when his music started to become more conscious.... the 'Til Shiloh'/'Inna Heights' (1995-1997) era. The crowd was singing along word for word as Buju took them down memory lane... "I could go on and on the full has never been told."

Eventually Buju took a little time out to connect with the fans, talking about his early years as a youth growing up in Kingston, Jamaica. He spoke about his experience meeting Shabba Ranks (not mentioning Shabba's name in the story) for the first time, where Shabba had a cork filled with honey and a spliff. When he asked Shabba why honey, Shabba explained that putting honey around the spliff makes the voice sweeter! The international reggae phenomenon, Shabba Ranks, together with his entourage immediately took over the stage taking the energy of the show to another level. The audience was in a frenzy!

Jamaican flags were waving on stage as Shabba too delivered a Hitalotathon®. "Dem Bow", "Winey Winey", "X-Rated", "Trailor Load", "Wicked Inna Bed", "Mr. Loverman" and the ever so popular "Love Punnany Bad". Once again the crowd was on their feet jammin' straight. "Whooooooooooooo", according to the cute Grenadian behind us. Some fans actual told us that Shabba stole the show on the night!

**Sniff Sniff** What's that we smell in de air? "Spliff, spliff…. sniff sniff"!! And ladies if you love yuhself a jam down rasta man? There were quite a few reppin'! ;-)

After Shabba's set was over, Buju brought more fyah to the stage with a medley of ole school and new. "Driver.... Don't stop at all.... Drop dis Arizona round a Alba Mall." Buju's chart topping 2006 dancehall release, "Driver A", of course got the biggest forward.

The show continued for another half an hour after it was supposed end, after Dahved negotiated additional time with MSG's management (with ah lil mamaguy-ing). So it was onto the closing performance by Tony 'Mentally ill' Matterhorn. For ah supposed mad man, he mash up de place (decked out in a three-piece suit n all) singing "Goodas Fi Dem " and breakout 2006 single "Dutty Wine". Matterhorn brought his two dancers, along with the original "Bad Man Forward" Ding Dong (who Matterhorn referred to as the best dancer in the Dancehall business since the passing of Mr. Bogle) and, if we recall correctly, Mystro a.k.a Mr. Energy on stage to demonstrate all of the latest dancehall styles and fashions, adding to the hype of his performance.

The curtains finally came down around 11:20pm and Trini Jungle Juice is happy to report that the sounds of both Soca and Reggae made its way into Madison Square Garden for 2007, as these trusted promoters continue their quest to revolutionize the face of Caribbean music!