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| buju touched down to chicago's house of blues august 4, 2001 and of course, the chicagoreggae.com crew was in the house. here is reporter emil's account of the night. pics from big will here! rest your mouse on the pics to see the caption and click the pic to see the full version (remember to hit the "back button" to come back to this page)... if you have real player, check out this little video from the show... August
4th, 2001 was a night of excellent entertainment. Change promotions presented
Buju Banton at the House of Blues. Dr. Israel was the opening act for Buju. A few patrons informed me that Dr Israel’s
performance was a little unique for the typical dancehall crowd. The performance was
identified as “Roots, Hard Rock and Reggae”. Dr. Israel’s bio gives claim
to the use of a variety of innovative music fusions; drum n' bass, reggae, trip-hop, punk
and funk. Unfortunately, Chicagoreggae missed Dr. Israel’s performance this time. We
hope to see Dr. Israel perform on their next visit to the windy City. Chicagoreggae
arrived at the House of Blues around 10:25 pm. The venue had a large number of patrons
outside, desperately clutching onto the hope for an extra ticket or two. The venue was
completely sold out and even Chicagoreagge.com wasn’t sure we would still be allowed
to enter (Big up Field Marshall).
Once
inside the venue, it was easy to see why the show was sold out. Buju managed to summon a
very diversified audience for the evening. The
concert hall was filled with your traditional dancehall loyalists, college students,
dreads and the ever-present culture reggae fans. Field Marshall was on the tables
providing a round of juggling for the crowd as everyone squeezed and pushed for a closer
view of the stage. On
the top of the hour (11:00pm), the Field Marshall enters the stage with a few housekeeping
messages. One important note was the announcement of upcoming shows featuring Luciano and
another up coming show by Grammy Award winning artist Beenie Man. Both shows will
definitely be sold out on the night of the performance. So, I would advise all to take
heed to the Field Marshall’s message…”Buy your tickets early”. Once
the general announcements were made an introduction was given for ‘MR MENTION ‘. Backed
by the Shiloh band, Buju Banton entered the stage with a string of hits from his “Mr.
Mention” album. It was good to see Buju
reach back to his earlier hits like “Stamina Daddy”,” Have to Get You
Tonight”, “ Love Me Browning” and “Love
Black Woman”. Just fifteen minutes into
his show, Buju introduced his three back up singers. It is a good feeling to see an artist
bring accompaniment these days. Most of the artists performing in Chicago bring themselves
and nothing else. Additionally, it’s a strong statement on how much Buju has evolved
as an artist. The next session of tunes certified Buju’s transition from dancehall
artist to a true vocalist. He treated everyone’s ears to soulful renditions of “African Herbsman”,”African
Pride”, “Wanna be Loved”, “Easy Road”, “Mighty
Dred”,“Shiloh Interlude & Untold Story”. The backup singers added a
special touch to the performance and made the concert a top class performance. Buju
managed to sweep the crowd when he belted out “Hills and Valleys”. I t was one
of the most popular tunes for the crowd. Everyone seemed to be singing along with the
words. It was clear that the evening had
begun with a few classic tunes and the current section was a reserved for the more
culture/vocalist tunes. The performance established Buju as a strong singer with mass
appeal. The
evening turned to a different focus at midnight. Buju return to the stage after the
audience requested more, killing the place with a barrage of Dancehall favorites. Gargamel ripped the place with “Pick it
up”, “Batty Rider”, “Dickey”, “Willy”, “Things
Change/ Deportees”, “Love Sponge” and ending the evening with
“Murderer”. What more could you ask
for in an encore? After the show came to a close the Field Marshall once again jumped on
the tables for some late night juggling. One thing we can all be proud of is Buju is
transcending to newer heights in the music business, which can mean greater exposure for
all dancehall artists.
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