To really experience the power of reggae/dancehall music, one has to witness the artistes on stage in a foreign land, especially in a country where English is not the mother tongue.
It was nothing short of electrifying to see Mr Vegas in action last week Sunday, in the French city of Toulouse on the second night of a two-day French-Caribbean festival. The promoters estimated that there were over 11,000 fans inside the auditorium ready, eager and waiting to see, hear and hopefully even touch the dancehall star from Jamaica.
“Mr Vegas is extremely popular here,” an excited photographer from the French-Caribbean island of Martinique explained. “When I heard he was going to be at this year’s French Caribbean festival in Toulouse, I bough a new camera for 2,400 Euro and booked my ticket. I just had to see him perform,” he declared.
And Mr Vegas surely delivered. In the absence of his band, his DJ Fatta Diamond, who also doubled as “hype man” had the crowd rocking for a full 10 minutes as he pulled reggae, dancehall and soca tunes from Vegas and other artistes to huge forwards.
At 1:10 am, Fatta’s voice boomed from the stage, “Are you ready for Mr Vegas? Make some noise!”
And when the man of the moment entered centrestage it was pandemonium. It was an energised Mr Vegas who took control of the crowd, reeling off his hits, engaging his fans and having them move to his every command. “If you love reggae music, mek me see the hands up,” he shouted and every hand immediately reached towards the ceiling. And then he called for a translator because he wanted to really “talk to his people”. Soon he had the crowd divided into two sections and tossed out a challenge to see which side had the most vibes and could cheer the loudest. They loved it.
This was a crowd that knew every Mr Vegas song and they gleefully sang lyric for lyric, dancing to the beat, especially with their favourites like Hot Wuk, Tek Wey Youself, Heads High and We Nuh Want Nuh Friend From Dem.
Not to be outdone were the dancers from Toulouse, a male and female aggregation, calling themselves Wining Fire. Well rehearsed, they were on point with every dance out of Jamaica, from Dutty Wine to Nuh Linga, to Sweep and their appearance on stage heightened the excitement level a couple notches.
Upon their exit, Mr Vegas resumed his personal connection with his fans and, after giving Toulouse a taste of his newest hitbound single, I Am Blessed, he made his exit with a promise to return soon.
Source: JamaicaObserver
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