VP 25TH ANNIVERSARY SHOW IN MIAMI, FLORIDA WAS SPECTACULAR!!

Written By Lance Cameron, West Indian Times Staff
Photos: Odette Hines, West Indian Times Staff

The VP 25th Anniversary show in Miami, Florida on Sunday, May 30, 2004 was spectacular!

Maxi Priest & Sash shown with Lance Cameron

The show was opened by Tasha, and Tamika doing the U.S. and Jamaican National anthems. I spoke to Tasha after her performance and she is in fact a refreshing new voice to the music fraternity. She has been working mainly with R & B artists, but is focusing more on her reggae aspirations. She is looking ahead to a very bright future, and hopes that her star will continue to rise. After that the next act was Ginjah, of the Harmony House family. Ginjah is a very talented cultural DJ, and he is very passionate about his music. West Indian Times has viewed his performance numerous times and he is really a growing force, with an ever expanding catalogue, we can look forward to more quality music from him.

Then Iley Dread and Chrisinti took the stage and began to warm the crowd for the next major act, the legendary and always resplendent Marcia Griffiths. As VP is celebrating 25 years of quality music, Marcia is also in a celebration of her own. She has been a musical icon for 40 years, and is still going strong. West Indian Times was able to speak to her briefly regarding her longevity in the music realm. Marcia stated that she had to first “Give all glory to God, and also a great big thank you to her fans for all their years of support. She sad that in truth without both, there would be no Marcia the musical queen.

Marcia was followed by Bushman and then Sasha who took the stage and showed the crowd that she was more than just a one song act. She had them dancing, wining and bouncing to her musical vibe. Watch out for her as she is a young and gifted artist. Baby Cham of the MadHouse Crew took the stage next and the place was flattened.. Baby Cham has really expanded his catalogue and has truly become a showstopper. Tanya Stephens brought the first surprise of the night when she introduced Spragga Benz. Spragga told West Indian Times that he has a new album “Shot a Culcha” (Jus like the yard man say it) due to drop this summer. I know that we can expect some great tracks from him.

The next artist on stage needed no introduction, as just the sound of his angelic voice was enough to send the crowd into a frenzy. The one and only Sanchez spent some quality time endearing himself to his ever growing legion of fans. Truly a sight to behold in full white, he commanded respect from the start of the show. Sanchez was followed by TOK. They put on a very exciting and energetic performance. The vibe started getting very hype from their performance. Next up was the artist Ric Roc, and he kept the house rocking. He opened up for his cohort Rayvon and then the Big Yard family took over. Between Ric, and Rayvon, they ripped it up. Dropping new songs and old familiars, they had the crowd singing along. And then the man appeared. Shaggy came on and he could do no wrong. Attired in Grey and white, he had the crowd eating up every word that he uttered. They truly loved him. Giving thanks to VP, he then went straight into his multi-platinum selling hit, “It Wasn’t Me”. The crowd went wild singing along with every word. Shaggy in his interview after performing was asked about any upcoming videos, and stated that he would not be doing any videos until his next album is released.

Following Shaggy’s performance, Maxi Priest took the stage, and proceeded to rock the house! As we have all come to expect, it was a quality Maxi performance. Leaving no stone unturned, he proceeded to tell the crowd that they should not go because it was a ‘Wide World’ where a woman could give him ‘Crazy Love’. The band changes between artists were very quick, and there was very little downtime. With music being provided by Steelie Bashment in the interim, there was no time for the audience to wonder when the next artist was going to be present.

The late night saw Beres Hammond opening up that segment, and from the very start he showed that he was “Putting Up A Resistance” after telling us that ‘She Loves Me Now’ and that he had to ‘Pull Up The Vibes’ the crowd decided that he had to ‘Come Back Home,’ a truly memorable performance. Like fine wine Beres just gets better with age. Following Beres was the ever controversial Sizzla Kalonji. Tonight’s musical renditions were of the cultural reference without even a hint of what we consider profanity. Sizzla was humble and contrite to the point of being a totally refreshing act. Not what I actually expected, but surprisingly good. Following Sizzla was Elephant Man. The place proceeded to ‘bun dung flat’ from he hit the stage. Full of energy from start to finish, he truly deserves his name the “Energy god.” He had the crowd punching the sky, doing the scooby doo, and fanning them off before signaling the plane. He even had a little lady on the stage to wine and jump up. There was even an instance where he brought a small little girl to do the Pon de River dance and then lifted her and bounced along the stage with no limit in sight to his energy level. The crowd went wild with each antic.

I was truly looking forward to Capelton’s performance but for some unknown reason people began pushing and shoving while Elephant Man was on stage and all of a sudden hundreds of people began running towards the exit of the park and going with gut feelings I too bounced so did not get to witness the last few artists!

Big up to VP for staying Miles Ahead In Reggae Music!!