This patron is locked to the action onstage on Thursday, January 26, at the Air Jamaica Jazz Festival while her companion grabs a nap. The venue at the Strawberry Hill golf course in Rose Hall, St. James, gives patrons a good view and the space to be 'exclusive' if they want to be. - FILE
ON SATURDAY I took the guided tour of the Richmond Estate, Priory, St. Ann - venue for Reggae Sunsplash 2006, and it is really good. No, it is more than good and even excellent; it is spectacular.
With the sea on one side and, across the North Coast Highway, the foothills and then the mountains on the other, the view is spectacular. Then, the main stage (or, at least, at this point the orange flag indicating where it will be) is positioned so that the rising sun will be behind the early morning performers, while the sea is behind those on the smaller, amphitheatre stage.
And, it is huge. So huge that even with the addition of the various stands and stalls it is going to take a lot of persons to make the crowd look really impressive. On the other hand, there will be lots of room to move around and it may be a case that the space was made for the 'campers', who will set up tents on the periphery of the expected crowd, in mind.
I got to thinking about venues and the 'vibe' they bring, how they often dictate how much fun (or not) is had at an event. For sheer crowd effect, closer is always better (though not so close as to be uncomfortable, as happened at one Heineken Startime I attended at the Mas Camp Village about two years ago). So the sessions that used to be kept in the Chancellor and Taylor halls dining rooms on the UWI Mona Campus in the early to mid 1990s, especially those in Chancellor's where Colin Hines would play until he had to send the crowd home, were spectacular. People were close not only physically, but it was a campus session so most times you knew who was whom.
Another indoor venue which carries a good vibe is the Chinese Benevolent Association on Hope Road. The roof is very high, which keeps down the heat, while there is an outdoor section for those who want to keep really cool and avoid the thickest of the crowd.
SMALL CONSIDERATION
Then outdoors again there is the Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival, on the spacious and, in some places, sloping grounds of the Strawberry Hill golf course in Rose Hall, St. James. It also provides a hell of a view, but it gives people room to be apart if they choose, not a small consideration if you want to be exclusive with the big money that you pay.
There are some venues that naturally lend themselves to sit-down settings; the Cable and Wireless Golf Academy in New Kingston and the car park of the Morgan's Harbour Hotel and Marina in Port Royal being chief among them.
In the main, though, reggae concerts are held at venues like football fields, such as the Port Kaiser Sports Club in St. Elizabeth (Rebel Salute), the JAMALCO Sports Club in Halse Hall, Clarendon, (Summer Sizzle, Original Dancehall Jam Jam) and the Llandilo Cultural Centre in Westmoreland (Western Conscious-ness) that are very similar. It is up to the audience and performers or selectors onstage to create the 'vibe' of the evening.
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