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Vintage soca, reggae 'flood' Savannah
Posted: Monday, October 4, 2004

by Terry Joseph

A fan expresses his appreciation to Baron, who was a crowd favourite on Saturday night at Spektakula Promotions' "An Evening of Golden Classics" at the Queen's Park Savannah. Photos: JERMAINE CRUICKSHANK

After a three-hour rainstorm put much of Port of Spain under water Saturday afternoon, rendering the evening damp and gloomy, more than 6,000 fans of soca and reggae dance music flooded the Queen's Park Savannah Grand Stand for a night of Golden Classics.

Carded for a peculiarly early 7.30 p.m. start, to allow the cast enough rest before an early flight to Tobago for last night's scheduled repeat, the concert opened at 8.30 p.m. anyway, as work on infrastructure and sound-checks had to be suspended during the deluge; resulting in rare unpunctuality for Spektakula Promotions.

Consequently, stage décor looked no better than a work in progress and opening acts were put to minor distress by last minute technical adjustments but the crowd didn't seem to mind, its female component screaming approval on demand from show-host CG, even after lustily applauding a botched keyboard interpretation of the national anthem.

Listed nowhere in pre-event promotion, Marilyn Williams pleasantly surprised us, crooning "Still the One" to open proceedings, following with "Ribbons", a Christmas selection she prefaced by offering relevant greetings which, given her choice of flaming red two-piece suit, didn't seem altogether out of place.

Of the expected performers, Boris Gardner was first up, doing "My Special Prayer" and trotting out songs with which the audience was familiar to the point of participation, delivering among them "It's So Nice to Be With You", "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", "Misty Blue", "Red, Red Wine" (which earned him best applause) and closing with "I Wanna Wake Up With You".

Reggae legend Ernie Smith, in black suit with naval collar, his greying hair pulled back into a tight bun, belied his age by engaging in fairly athletic "skanking" offering the infectious "Pitta Patta" and "Sammy", before explaining his song about dominoes, which didn't exactly enhance its appeal.

But he swiftly rescued the lull with the catchy "Bend Down" and further ingratiated himself by spoken tributes to local folklore (he yearned to taste cascadura and left-hand dumplings), before recounting a tale of street violence in "Duppy or Gunman", doing "One Dream" and closing on the song with which he made his composing debut, "Tears On My Pillow".

It was now 10 p.m. and time for Baron who, from the wings, chanted the overture of "Lady", eliciting approving shrieks even before setting foot onstage. The loquacious lady in Box I (42) fell clear through to the floor, her seat collapsing as she plunked down after standing to take a wine of endorsement.

Outfitted in scarlet thigh-length coat, fully open over black shirt and pants, Baron continued to charm his audience (which included Police Commissioner Trevor Paul and Fire Chief Lennox Alfred), turning the event into a full-scale dancing party, with "This Melody Sweet", then into the love ballads, a segue stitching "Fools Rush In", "Dream, Dream, Dream", "My Special Angel", "Sweets For My Sweet", "Guava Jelly", "Red, Red Wine" and "I Who Have Nothing"; before bringing the house down with "Sweet Soca Man".

The advertised 20-minute break stretched to a little more than twice that time, making it the longest single item on the night's programme, a liberty noted by the audience but assuaged somewhat by sensible selections from Mr Q, the house DJ, who kept kinetic energy flowing with songs like Eddy Grant's "Neighbour, Neighbour" and Nadie La Fond's "Wanna Make Love to You".

Making his debut on a Trini-stage, Shirley Stewart opened fittingly with "I've Come a Long Way" then, from his latest CD, did "For a Long Time", following with "You Gonna Reap What You Sow" and closing on his 1984 blockbuster "Walk Away From Love"; making way for another newcomer to the local stage, the venerable Pluto Shervington.

By his own testimony, "13" was a lucky number. He had been to Trinidad 12 times before but only at Carnival and expressly for the purpose of playing mas.

At precisely ten minutes after midnight, Wayne Bruno's Rapid Response Orchestra struck up the overture to "La-La" as CG announced Nelson and the burly bard burst onstage, dressed in white jumpsuit with matching double-breasted jacket, shoes and half-gallon newsboy cap, to flesh out the piece with trademark vigour; accompanied now by a chorus of thousands.

He demonstrated pelvic flexibility from every viewpoint, slowing down the movement for "King Liar" to engage the sing-along but just couldn't nail the opening line of the final verse, causing multiple repeats of the penultimate stanza and calls on the audience for help, before it came to him that "the crowd went wild and couldn't cool down," jogging his memory and bringing closure to the song.

Half an hour into yesterday he unleashed his 1982 blockbuster "Mih Lover" (aka "Let's Have a Good, Good Time"), bringing fresh patronage to the quadrant reserved for dancing, keeping them there as she discarded his jacket for the night's final selection, "We Like It", a fitting curtain closer; describing widely held assessment of An Exciting Everning of Golden Classics.

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