The Buju Banton Long Walk to Freedom Concert, National Stadium, Kingston, Jamaica

Do not have a plan when you go to Jamaica. It will be shredded by the time the sun comes up. Our original plan was to head into Kingston from the North Coast around 11:00 am, hang around at Uncorked ( a downtown wine bar) for a while, head up to the stadium parking lot around 4:00 pm to do some tailgating, and then enter the stadium for the Buju Banton Long Walk to Freedom concert around 6:00 pm. By the time I began moving around in the house that morning, that plan had been discarded and replaced by breakfast in Ochi ... and a void.

Buju Banton singing at the Long Walk to
Freedom concert

We had breakfast at a hole-in-the-wall on the White River (the border between St Ann and St Mary Parrishes), just to the north of the A3 Highway bridge. We were joined there by our regular chauffeur (recently injured in a serious auto accident), his wife, and two Florida-resident friends. We ate a hearty local breakfast and downed a few Red Stripes to set the tone for the day.

Flora and Fauna of White River

Breakfast brews

We had had fun but we were now behind the eight ball. We scrambled back to the house to get our overnight bags -- we never got hotel rooms so we would be staying over in Kingston with a friend (Dave).

We headed out to Kingston (remember that for a Kingstonian, every other part of Jamaica is "country" -- rural, that is) and the party continued at Uncorked. I love the wine offerings there and the flatbread that I ate was to die for. We were joined there by a number of friends.

By this time the talk of the town was about the news swirling around Buju. There had been some kind of altercation between him and one of his sons and that son had come out with some harsh, negative statements on social media. Radio programs were discussing the issue and the rumor mill was operating overtime but no one really knew the genesis of the event or what actually occurred therein (The son has since come out and apologized to his father via social media but has exhorted his father to be a better parent for the benefit of the younger kids.).

My daughter (Karen) was in town for the event and began texting me at this time as regards the traffic situation and the fact that they had to park at a second location and be bussed in to the concert venue. Once at the stadium she was disappointed at the lack of awareness of the officials tasked with order and crowd control. The official program began at 8:00 pm but DJs and dancers performed on stage all afternoon long to keep these early arrivers entertained.

Selina and Karen

Up to this point Paul and I had no specific plan as to how we would get to the stadium. David, one of Paul's friends, queried us as to how we were getting there. We shrugged. He said, "Come along with me." So we all went to his house where Rachel (his wife) began pouring us drinks. I was becoming worried . It was getting late and no one seemed in any hurry.

Eventually the bus showed up. We boarded but, after a short while, stopped at some condos. We were picking up David and Rachel's friends. These guys were obviously close friends who have shared a drink -- and a conversation -- or two and were in no hurry to go anywhere.

We finally got underway and when we got to the stadium, I saw the reason for their nonchalance. They affixed multiple stickers to the windshield and this allowed us to transit multiple perimeters and park directly within the stadium surrounds.

We entered the arena at 7:45 pm ... and what a sight. People as far as the eye could see.

Someone on the loudspeaker was assuring the crowd that the event would begin at 8:00 sharp and I am thinking that he is pulling our legs. I have been to many of these events and (i) they never start on time, (ii) they never proceed according to schedule, and (iii) they end whenever.

We found a space that was large enough for our group and then set about looking for lubricants. We started off with two bottles of Appleton and two bottles of Grey Goose.

And damn it if the show did not begin at 8:00 pm sharp as they had promised. The MC welcomed the crowd and introduced the first performer on the night's card, Wayne Marshall. And the show was on. For the next three hours we were treated to virtuoso performances by the likes of Jahazeil, Delly Ranks, Ghost, LUST, Coco T, Etana, Christopher Martin, Romain Virgo, Agent Sasco, and Chronix. This was a lineup befitting a music festival; definitely not a run-of-the-mill opening act.

Each of these artists were stars in their own right. Coco T had been scheduled to go on tour but held back so that he could perform at his good friend's "welcome home" party. During his set he had Koffee, one of the hottest new Reggae acts around, do a brief stint. It was electric.

I have loved Etana and her songs from the time I first heard her on the radio but have never had the opportunity to see her live. She sang beautifully and, in so doing, reassured me that my fandom was not misplaced. Chris Martin seemed somewhat diminished and restrained by the setting (or it could have been early-onset Appleton syndrome on my part).

Etana

I have previously heard a lot of the songs Ghost sang but was unsure as to the artist; it was nice to put a face -- battered though it was -- to the songs. He did a great job. Chronix had the longest set of these acts with 20 minutes allocated for his performance.

Our crew

Paul resting, David drinking, Rachel smiling

There was a 20-minute intermission and then the moment we were all waiting for. Buju strode slowly on to the stage dressed in white. The crowd exploded.

He began with Not an Easy Road and then did about four songs that lowered my enthusiasm. Then he turned to standards such as Hills and Valleys and Destiny and Dancehall favorites like Champion and Too Bad. Now we were cooking with gas.

The sound went off twice during the course of his performance -- the only blemish on an otherwise stellar night. You knew that the crowd was non-local in that they waited patiently for the sound to be restored rather than heaving a few bottles onto the stage.

The second half of his performance was focused on bringing close friends on to the stage to sing with him: Stefflondon, Marcia Griffits, Beres Hammond, Wayne Wonder, and Gramps Morgan. The set with Beres reprised some of their past collaborations and was at once playful and inspirational. I felt as though, in that set, Beres stamped his passport for re-entry into the fold of Reggae legends.

He closed with Gramps Morgan and Psalms 23. And then the fireworks began and the show was over. The highest quality, timeliest, most orderly Reggae concert that I have ever attended in Jamaica. The Long Walk to Freedom has ended. Buju you are now free to to do as you wish. You have earned it; in more ways than one.

Officials estimate that 30,000 people attended the concert but I have also seen estimates that go as high as 40,000. Music insider Copeland Forbes, in an interview with Loop News, stated that the Buju concert carried the largest audience ever at the National Stadium. "... it was bigger than Nelson Mandella's visit and ... Bob Marley's One Love Peace Concert in 1978."

Airport authorities saw a 143% increase in Kingston Airport traffic on the Friday before the concert over the traffic on the same day one year ago. Montego Bay Airport experienced a 58% traffic increase over the same period. Buju is magnetic.

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