TALK ABOUT PACE!!!! A Summer Saturday night in T&T and home was definitely not the place to be.... we had two places to be this night, so quick was the word!! First, we were off to Pier 1 for the Heineken Green Synergy DJ Competition Finals (sorry folks…. no pics of that event!!!) which we left a little before 11pm. So on to the main event of the night..... SUMMERFEST'07 featuring DAMIAN JR. GONG and STEPHEN MARLEY.

We arrived at the venue and it was semi-chaotic... parking was non-existent, so our V.I.P. status meant little outside. Anxious to make it inside before the Marley's hit the stage, we circled the stadium and parked opposite Movie Towne. With Scalpers offering VIP tickets for up to $600TT and General Admission $250TT tickets were prized assets. We could already hear local rock band ORANGE SKY performing so we made our way through the colourful crowd outside and lined up at the VIP entrance. Minutes later we were inside with an empty belly and six chits which could be used for either food or premium drinks. Bake & Shark was the obvious choice but the line was so long we missed local Reggae All Stars King David & Royal Dainties performances.

With both hunger and thirst satisfied (we had to make a pass at the bar twice), we moved through the backstage VIP area where people seemed to be enjoying themselves quite nicely taking in all the Reggae vibes of this highly anticipated event. Out in the main area we were surprised at how large the VIP area was (although it was relatively full) since General Admission patrons were at least 40 meters away from the stage. What must have made it worst for them is that they only had one screen which they could view the stage properly from. After the local performances the crowd was treated to an appetizing selection of Reggae tracks until it was time for the real show to begin.

Shortly after 1:00am the multiple Grammy Award winning Junior Gong's presence was signaled by the electrifying intro from his "Welcome To Jamrock" album, and an invigorated flagman who must have been drinking energy drinks for the whole day. Dressed in a crisp blue shirt with his locks flowing past his knees the young Marley received instantaneous adoration from the audience. After pausing to proclaim his joy at being back in Trinidad (which he claimed reminds him of home - JA) he had everyone moving with each rendition.

He took the crowd back with "Me Name Junior Gong", "Still Searching" and "More Justice" from his "Mr. Marley" and "Half-way Tree" albums. The energy was overflowing as he strung together "The Dreadful", "Hey Girl", "Beautiful", "Something For You", "Khaki Suit" and "Move". Before long, an hour had passed and Stephen "Raggamuffin" Marley made a brief cameo appearance to sing several duets with his brother. "Traffic Jam", "And It Was Written", "Pimper's Paradise", "All Night" and "For The Babies" with the latter being performed with the lights turned off and lighters and cell phones twinkling all around the arena with more numbers than the stars in the black starry sky above.

Damian then took the crowd through some more tracks from "Welcome to Jamrock" album before making a hasty exit from the stage. The crowd was having none of it since he was yet to perform the title track of the album and his biggest hit to date, and after a few minutes he reappeared with a smile on his face. The band struck up again and he sang some of his father's hits along with "Road To Zion" and then an amazing rendition of "Welcome To Jamrock" after which he said his good-byes and exited.

But being Trini's, the crowd wanted even more and were not prepared to let Junior Gong go. After about ten minutes of restless chanting for him to come back on, RED 96.7 FM personality Devon Matthews was able to convince Junior Gong to give an encore performance. He pulled back out some more of "Senior Gong's" classics to finally put the crowd at ease and after a full two hours of performing, the people were satisfied and the concert was over.

It must be said that the show was an overall success. Our general admission brethren may beg to differ because of where they were positioned but from a neutral standpoint they were really given a cold shoulder. The actual performance and delivery was top notch and may go down as one of the best stage performances the country has ever seen. The night was an unforgettable one and you can rest assured that the next time the Marley's hit T&T there will be a Natural Mystic flowing through the air.

Young Simmo for the TJJ Fam