Jackass sey de worl' no level. Jackass sey im go a Guinness show whe day an im cyaa understan' how Mumma Saw fus go pon stage outta de big hack dem.

The Guinness celebration, dancehall style, at the National Stadium on Saturday was great. Excellent stage, great sound, big performers, big performances, great place for dancehall music (remember that Sting used to be kept there). Jackass saw how people reacted to Wyclef Jean's selections from the sound system tower and the Beenie Man/Bounty Killer combination.

But Jackass had one issue with the concert and the performer in question had the same issue too. How did Lady Saw end up going first? Yeah man, on a dancehall show where, obviously, respect of some sort was being shown to the 'elders', Lady Saw should not be the opener.

Lady Saw is a deejay, sure, but more than that she is a dancehall icon. Saw is one of those very few original, one of a kind dancehall personalities that are larger than life and make an impression on the psyche of the wider society, while remaining true to dancehall's roots. She has the catalogue, she has the performance, she has the swagger, she has the on -the-spot lyrics when required.

So how, then, did she end up going on first?

Could it because she is a woman? Jackass would hate to think so and, in fact, would like to believe that since she was the only female main performer (cause we nah dis the female back-up vocalists who worked with people like Wayne Wonder) the one and only Saw would have been given a spot where she would have been seen by more of the always fashionably late dancehall massive.

audience

And a massive it was indeed, as a whopper of an audience turned out for the basically free concert.

This does not mean, of course, that there is something inherently wrong about being first up at a stage show. But there is a reason why it is near standard to start with the more rootsy reggae artistes at a show, them go up to the hardcore dancehall. It is not an indictment on the performer, but simply how Jamaican music has developed, in the first instance, and how the tastes of the dancehall audience have been shaped.

Still, although she did say something about it, Lady Saw did what she has always done and done so well, deliver not only her well-known songs but also new material and organise up a little audience participation. In fact, when Saw got a request to show a little 'eh hem' to a man in the audience, she asked him if he was mad and said it was a Guinness show for one and the beloved John John was also around for another.

So Saw was great and early in an arena where the bulk of the audience comes in late. Ah well.

Jackass sey de worl' no level. Jackass sey Guinness Greatness concert sell off, but dem sell Saw short!