A conscious reggae supporter shakes her calabash.

The concert at Queen’s Park Oval on July 25 was supposed to be an event promoting peace, love and unity. However, the complaints kept on flooding in from the artistes and those in attendance.

Jah Melody complained that he and his wife were verbally abused by someone on the management level for reasons unknown to him. Jah Melody, who was the first to perform, sang for an audience of literally five persons. He got a call back after Marlon Asher’s performance and performed a small portion of two of his popular hits before abruptly leaving the stage. His action left many wondering if there was a time constraint.

Marlon Asher, who is on his way to becoming a household name, due to his recently completed European tour with Jah Melody, Maximus Dan and Simply Smooth in Europe, also complained of unprofessional behaviour by one of the promoters and the stage manager. Asher’s problems started before the show, when he could not get hand bands for his entire group to enter. His manager was also unable to attend the event because of the same problem.

Sources close to the promoters claim that the main performers, Coco Tea and Sizzla, owed the promoter a show, due to the recently cancelled Neo Concert. Unfortunately, as evidenced by the poor crowd, the show seemed poorly advertised and haphazardly done. Marlon Asher almost missed getting to perform, as the stage manager told him he couldn’t go on stage because of his late arrival. Asher’s camp argued that at the 4 pm sound check, no information was given to any of the opening acts as to their performance time.

Asher showed much professionalism by giving a stunning performance alongside his backup singers, the High Grade Family. Dressed in white and wearing matching ice, gold and green hats with complementing scarves, the group ignited a musical consciousness that would set the mood for the night. Legendary Jamaican singer Coco Tea performed a medley of songs for his set. The artiste gave tribute to Aretha Franklin and even sang Michael Jackson’s Heal the World, backed by a mass choir: the audience.

Coco Tea had his bag of complaints to let loose, as he continuously made mention of the incompetent sound engineer, who would not tune the system to the artistes’ liking. The conscious singer even sang about the problem three times in three different songs, while threatening to leave the stage. Sizzla Kalonji, who was the featured act, didn’t seem to be bothered by the problems backstage. Known for his lyrics against Babylon, the Jamaican singer gave a performance that was par excellence. Singing for more than an hour, Sizzla unleashed more than 30 of his best hits and threw a couple of new singles into the mix.