The Bicentennial Park in downtown Miami was the venue for the much-anticipated Best of the Best concert on the weekend. This year, the promoters decided to stage the event over two days (Saturday, May 28, featuring R&B and hip-hop acts, while Sunday, May 29, featured reggae and dancehall acts).
Sunday's show attracted an estimated 15,000 patrons, comprising mostly Caribbean nationals.
From as early as 5 p.m., patrons began to stream into the venue to whet their musical appetites with pulsating Jamaican music. However, it was the conscious crusader, singer Tarrus Riley, who led the pack, delivering a very deep performance, rife with the hits he is known for. Riley dug into his catalogue and fired round after round.
He spoke about peace, unity, love, black consciousness and social issues. Between songs, he effectively communicated with his audience and exchanged pleasantries.
Armed with three background singers and Dean Fraser on saxophone, Riley planted musical bombs which erupted at the start of each bar.
Lion Paw, Love's Contagious, Human Nature, Start Anew, Shaka Zulu Pickney, Superman and Wanty Wanty all provided the musical arsenal.
He capped his solid set with an encore performance of She's Royal.
Dancehall artiste Assassin has shown growth and maturity in both his lyrical content and his stage performances. He instantly connected with patrons as he delved into songs, including Good Over Evil, Talk How Mi Feel, and Guide and Protect, before ripping through snippets ofEverywhere We Go, Wah Do Dem Guy Deh, and Hand Inna Di Air.
Dancehall veteran Shabba Ranks showed why he is still in demand on the stage-show circuit. Currently riding a new wave of popularity with the Stephen McGregor-produced None A Dem single, the Grammy winner, who hasn't performed on Jamaican soil in many moons, left no stone unturned.
Trailer Load, Ting A Ling, Twice My Age and Wicked Inna Bedassisted him on his musical journey.
The Marley brothers Stephen and Damian worked a nice set, reeling offTraffic Jam, The Mission, Welcome to Jamrock and snippets of the remix of Mykal Rose's Shootout before inviting Spragga Benz onstage to combine on their current single, Jah Army.
Other performances worth mentioning were those delivered by Tifa, I-Octane, Vybz Kartel (via satellite from Jamaica), Stephen 'Di Genius' McGregor and Chino, Etana, Romain Virgo, Richie Loop, DJ Liquid, soca diva Alison Hinds, Sanchez and rapper DJ Khaled, whose set was enhanced with the appearances of rappers Ludacris and Busta Rhymes.
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