There was a full house at Royal Albert Hall in London on March 12 for a show marking reggae’s 50th anniversary. It was a massive event promoted by British broadcaster and sound system legend, David Rodigan, and featured acts such as Freddie McGregor and Bitty McLean.
McGregor, who closed the show with his hit songs Big Ship and Push Come to Shove, was overwhelmed by the fan response. He would love to see a similar spectacle in Jamaica but admits the odds of that happening anytime soon are high.
“One of my disappointments is that we probably won’t get a chance to see a concert like that in Jamaica. Number one, Jamaica doesn’t have a venue equipped to stage this event; while we have the (National) Indoor Center, it is not a symphony hall,” McGregor said. “The Royal Albert Hall is the biggest and best in the United Kingdom so we have a long way of getting there, but we can do it and it can turn out to be the best.”
The show, which featured the 25-piece Outlook Orchestra, was sold out within days of being advertised. Rodigan said promoters deliberately left off the names of artists to build expectancy. The strategy worked, as over 5,000 fans showed up to see McGregor, McLean, Maxi Priest, Holly Cook, Kiko Bun and Winston Francis, among others, perform songs that helped put reggae on the international map.
McGregor was particularly pleased to see Winston Francis whom he idolized as a child singer at Studio One in the 1960’s. Francis did his signature Mr. Fix It and the classic Sata Masa Gana.
“These are the people I looked up to, they were our superstars. Seeing Mr. Francis fixing it as Mr. Fix It, I was delighted,” he said.
The Jamaican government has officially designated 2019 as the 50th year of reggae’s birth. On March 5, they staged Reggae Gold at the National Indoor Center in Kingston, Jamaica’s capital.
That ceremony honored 100 persons who contributed to the development of the music.
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