Capelton

I had a real hectic day last week Saturday. After I watched Gargoyles and caught some cricket, I had to go down to the Little Carib Theatre for the how that opens Rapso week, breaking new ground. That show was supposed to start at 4:30pm, so when I got there at eight o’clock, it was already finished but for the liming afterwards. I heard that it was good though.

From there I had to haul myself halfway across Port Of Spain to catch a preview of the academy award winning film ‘The English Patient‘, up at The Deluxe Cinema. Of course, I read the invitation wrong and I was only a whole day late for that.

Well, anyway, I stayed for the regular feature and I’ll tell you now that ‘Fierce Creatures‘ is a very funny movie. Jamie Lee Curtis has on these dresses, I tell you! But it was cool; go see it, or rent the tape. After that great start, I was hoping that the night would not end up a total jumbie, so when I left Deluxe and ducked through the princess building grounds to the concert capital/paddock at the Queen’s Park Savannah, my hopes for a good concert were running on high. Of course I reached late for that too.

Roots and Culture promotions, a unit fronted by the serious Rastafari brethren Curtis and Uumba of Matsimela sounds, had staged their first real foray into the big concert game. Unity Fest 97 was a showcase for the conscious Rasta dub artists, Terrie Ganzie, Yami Bolo, Determine and The Prophet, Capelton.

Well, I missed Terrie Ganzie outright and I got inside just as Yami Bolo took the stage. Yami Bolo is a singer and that brethren can hit them notes, I tell you. His biggest hit so far was ‘Confrontation‘ and I really got the crowd into the right frame of mind. When Determine hit the stage, I thought at first that ‘ok, here’s another Bennie Man clone’ but this youth has some unique styles too.

Unfortunately, his vibe got jumbied when some idiots in the crowd got stupid and started to fight. By the time Determine got started again, his set was finished and his fire was stolen, but the chorus ‘I hear Zion hill calling out my name‘ left the right impression that determine is going on the right route.

Then came The Prophet. This was the third time that Capleton came to Trini to perform. As he has gotten more and more into the Rastafari religion, Capelton’s music has gotten more and more refined. His new stuff has a tighter melody and his great singing voice finally has something to do.

After the huge worldwide success of ‘Tour’, and a string of other hits, Capelton was seemingly going the route of Shabba Ranks and Buju Banton. The lure of the big stages, bright lights and Billboard Top Ten of the USA still hasn’t affected the rootsical hardcore of Capelton, and his message still remains the same. Capellton took the Savannah stage by storm and he moved the crowd like a true champion. His set was complete and although the band couldn’t really jam the hardcore dancehall tracks, they still played a very tight set.

The only thing I thought was wrong with this concert was the excess amount of alcoholic beverages that were on sale. This was the Rastafari equivalent of Be Be and Ce Ce Winans coming to town, and I don’t see that many rum bottles on the floor in those gospel music concerts. It’s time we as Rastafari took charge of our own PR image. Sensi is part of the religion, granted, but where in the scripture does it say anything about beer and rum? Rasta can’t start any talk about bringing down Babylon when we’re intoxicated on the juice. And besides that, what people choose to do in their own bedrooms is their own business, so could someone decide to stop singing about who and who does bow? Check yuhself Rastaman, what that have to do with anything real?