Day-By-Day inna Paradise -day 2
Posted by Daniel
|
Day-By-Day inna Paradise -day 2 January 13, 2006 06:01PM |
DAY TWO:
Although we had been up until about 3:00 the night before, I still arose at daylight. Hotel Divi is located all the way out on the east side of the island. While many of the artists were staying there and it was very close to the venue, it was a long ways away from anything else. As there was a ‘Children’s Parade’ in F’sted, we decided to make the haul.
When we arrived in town it was jammed packed.
There was float after float of steel drum bands followed by 10-20 children dressed up in 'carnival lite' gear...
A nice experience to witness these 4-12 year olds 'wine up dem waist'.
I'm really not into the 'carnival' thing, but this was really nice
Lots of smiling faces throughout the parade and crowd
What is really amazing is how small the community is. When we got out from our ride, the very first car i saw was Tippy and Tuff Lion, and they reminded me of their show at Club 54 that. During the Parade, we ran into Kufunya and Preston who was making his first trod to STX. I sense a closeness on the island, even to people i've never seen before.
After dinner and a brief return to our room, we headed down to Club 54 where Lady Passion, Bambu Station, Iba and DAPP were to perform.
When we got to the venue, i felt like i had arrived backstage at a festival because all the faces not only seemed familiar, they WERE. Cheech and Hayba of Reggae Bubblers were standing outside, and phil, Jr. P and dion were just starting to set things up.
The venue was really nice - 3 levels with the lower level being the stage and club area. The second floor is a little Mezzanine that has open walls on each side, and the top level is basically open aire and 420 friendly. At about 10:30, DAPP started to play, but Abijah did not make the journey, so they had a second keyboard player instead. It sounded pretty good, but I spent most of the set outside talking to Cheech, Hayba and Ikahba. We talked about his upcoming release (he has 2 projects with Ron and a next album too), and the songs I had heard the night before. And he promised to fulfill my 2-year standing request to hear Skylarkin.
At one point, Dale Melody (Donny Dread’s brother) introduced himself to me. Then Bambu Station came on. Lady Passion sang about 45 minutes worth
I was glad to hear her I had missed all her bay area shows last fall.
Her music was well received by the fairly good-sized crowd.
Then Iba came out.
His wife and mother (who lives in Connecticut) were also present.
Bambu Station sounded as good as ever.
Phillip Merchant held down keyboards while Jalani was singing
I really didn't get to hear most of the music, as I was talking with Phil, Jr. P (who gave me some of his new music), Lady Passion, Ikahba and others during most of the set. I also ran into Tiffany and IC at the club with whom it was nice to finally make the link.
We started leaving around 2:30, but as we left, I ran into Sahara Indio, who gave me some of her new recordings with Tuff Lion. Then I noticed Ankh Watep, and we spoke for a while and made plans to link up on Monday during a rehearsal with Gravity Band. Just as we were walking away, Ryan of Midnite arrived and introduced me to Mada Nile. When I told her how much I really enjoyed her album, she seemed a bit doubtful, but the look on her face changed 180 degrees when I not only told her which songs I liked, but rattled off a few crucial versus. Another action-packed day ended at about 4:00.
Although we had been up until about 3:00 the night before, I still arose at daylight. Hotel Divi is located all the way out on the east side of the island. While many of the artists were staying there and it was very close to the venue, it was a long ways away from anything else. As there was a ‘Children’s Parade’ in F’sted, we decided to make the haul.
When we arrived in town it was jammed packed.
There was float after float of steel drum bands followed by 10-20 children dressed up in 'carnival lite' gear...
A nice experience to witness these 4-12 year olds 'wine up dem waist'.
I'm really not into the 'carnival' thing, but this was really nice
Lots of smiling faces throughout the parade and crowd
What is really amazing is how small the community is. When we got out from our ride, the very first car i saw was Tippy and Tuff Lion, and they reminded me of their show at Club 54 that. During the Parade, we ran into Kufunya and Preston who was making his first trod to STX. I sense a closeness on the island, even to people i've never seen before.
After dinner and a brief return to our room, we headed down to Club 54 where Lady Passion, Bambu Station, Iba and DAPP were to perform.
When we got to the venue, i felt like i had arrived backstage at a festival because all the faces not only seemed familiar, they WERE. Cheech and Hayba of Reggae Bubblers were standing outside, and phil, Jr. P and dion were just starting to set things up.
The venue was really nice - 3 levels with the lower level being the stage and club area. The second floor is a little Mezzanine that has open walls on each side, and the top level is basically open aire and 420 friendly. At about 10:30, DAPP started to play, but Abijah did not make the journey, so they had a second keyboard player instead. It sounded pretty good, but I spent most of the set outside talking to Cheech, Hayba and Ikahba. We talked about his upcoming release (he has 2 projects with Ron and a next album too), and the songs I had heard the night before. And he promised to fulfill my 2-year standing request to hear Skylarkin.
At one point, Dale Melody (Donny Dread’s brother) introduced himself to me. Then Bambu Station came on. Lady Passion sang about 45 minutes worth
I was glad to hear her I had missed all her bay area shows last fall.
Her music was well received by the fairly good-sized crowd.
Then Iba came out.
His wife and mother (who lives in Connecticut) were also present.
Bambu Station sounded as good as ever.
Phillip Merchant held down keyboards while Jalani was singing
I really didn't get to hear most of the music, as I was talking with Phil, Jr. P (who gave me some of his new music), Lady Passion, Ikahba and others during most of the set. I also ran into Tiffany and IC at the club with whom it was nice to finally make the link.
We started leaving around 2:30, but as we left, I ran into Sahara Indio, who gave me some of her new recordings with Tuff Lion. Then I noticed Ankh Watep, and we spoke for a while and made plans to link up on Monday during a rehearsal with Gravity Band. Just as we were walking away, Ryan of Midnite arrived and introduced me to Mada Nile. When I told her how much I really enjoyed her album, she seemed a bit doubtful, but the look on her face changed 180 degrees when I not only told her which songs I liked, but rattled off a few crucial versus. Another action-packed day ended at about 4:00.
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