A group of Jamaicans in the United Kingdom are giving back to their hometown with a show they hope will be annual. The inaugural Island Vibes Stage Show and Dance is scheduled for August 10 in Guys Hill, a rural district that borders St. Mary and St. Catherine parishes.
It is the brainchild of London-based Island Vibes Promotions whose founder is Michael Patton, who lived in Guys Hill before moving to the UK.
Patton said Guys Hill is no longer the sleepy community he grew up in. Like many rural areas in Jamaica, youth there are not into farming, once a traditional profession; they love to party as seen through dances like Shellings and Full Rev which feature hot dancehall acts like Tommy Lee Sparta and Chuck Fender.
“We chose to host this event in Guys Hill because of the growth in the community. There are quite a few people here in the UK who travel to Jamaica just to give back and reminisce on the good times,” said Patton.
“Giving back” from Island Vibes Stage Show and Dance will be part proceeds to the Blackstonedge All-Age School in the community. “They are in need of help. I believe in giving back so everything my company does is with great purpose,” said Patton.
Chronic Law, one of the biggest names in Jamaican dancehall; Ishawna and Ding Dong headliners for the show, which will also feature homegrown acts.
Dances were common in Guys Hill during the 1970s when Patton grew up there. In the 1980s, recalls attending dances by sound systems like Stone Love and Bass Odyssey.
Though many older folk in Guys Hill shunned dancehall music as bawdy, Patton and his colleagues saw things differently.
“The music has always been like a spiritual revelation to me, it had the power to tell you what is going on in the country at the current time,” he said.
Patton is already looking forward to the future with plans to reach out to Guys Hill’s elders.
“The second year will be the stage show and beach party and the third year I would want to add a vintage vibes where the likes of a Freddy McGregor, Marcia Griffiths and Junior Reid can be heard. These artists can be appreciated by a mature audience and even young people,” he said.
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