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Sounds Of Reggae in New York

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Sounds Of Reggae in New York

Sounds Of Reggae in New York

By Steve James on Sunday, January 20, 2013 - Photos by Steve James - Comment

Shaggy, Beres Hammond, Maxi Priest and Ali Campbell live in New York.

Sampler

Sounds Of Reggae / New York History was made inside the newly built multipurpose Barclay’s Arena in Brooklyn, New York on Wednesday, December 12^th when for the first time, a reggae event was held at the newly constructed venue. Presented by Bio Life Energy systems the historic Sounds of Reggae starred Shaggy, and featured Beres Hammond, Maxi Priest, and lead singer of UB 40, Ali Campbell.

With the venue filled to its capacity of over sixteen thousand each artiste had a lot of hearts to satisfy. Maxi Priest was the first to take the stage and had the crowd singing all of his favorite hits including Close to You, and That Girl. Shaggy was up next and with his full complement of his entourage such as Rayvon, DJ Que and his backup singers he delivered several of his countless hits, including It Wasn’t Me and Mr. Bombastic. These songs had the ladies singing along and dancing up a storm.

Performing in New York for the first time since the release of his new album 'One Love One Life' Beres Hammond delivered a performance to remember, singing songs of the past and songs from his new album. During his performance several members of the Harmony House band did solo performances but it was his lead guitarist Robert Angus who brought the audience to their feet with his “rock star” like performance. Ali Campbell of UB40 had the honour of closing the show, and this he did in fine style, singing several hits from UB40’s vast catalogue of hits including Red, Red Wine, The Way You Do the Things You Do and Kingston Town. While some of the patrons left after Beres’ performance, the fans that stayed could be seen singing and dancing through his entire performance every step of the way. When the curtains came down, the patrons remaining in the venue left satiated and musically fulfilled.