Ever been to a show that felt right in the beginning but somewhere near the end an upsetting feeling engulfs you or worse, you are forced to flee the venue amid a stampede of scared and intoxicated people.
It is as exactly as dreadful as it sounds. There is absolutely nothing entertaining about scampering for dear life in high heels or flats from a show for fear of being shot and whether you are accepting of the gay community or not, having to stand and listen to an artiste repeatedly spit out homophobic music is nothing short of offensive.
Jamaican Bounty Killer basically spoiled the Ignition Concert at the National Park early Sunday morning. He was like sour milk in a good cup of tea, and from all indications even the sound system had a problem with his performance.
Before he took the stage everything was going well. QQ, the young Jamaican with envious dance skills, rocked the Park but for some strange reason disappeared too quickly then Wayne Wonder showed up and did his thing. Together, they put on enough of show to make Bounty Killer’s act irrelevant. But in the end it did appear irrelevant because he sang nothing to talk about and his performance ended abruptly after gunfire rang out in the Park.
Bounty Killer has a long history of homophobic music and a catalogue of ‘gun tunes’ that goes with his hardcore image. He has had to face a string of concert cancellations around the world for the messages his music carry yet he was allowed to fly over to Guyana and offload them on us.
From the minute he took the stage his comments directed towards the gay community were offensive as they were unnecessary but he kept them going. Could it mean that he had nothing more to sing about?
This is the same singer who when he started out had received praises for his serious commentary on poverty in Jamaica and the pains of growing up in a violent society. His song, “Fed Up” was an anthem in the country. He was like a righteous crusader for the poor but overtime his work has been overshadowed by a relentless campaign against the gay community and apparent obsession with gun violence.
Perhaps there was a reason why the audio cut off twice while he was on stage on Sunday night and it worked perfectly for the two artistes that preceded him. Something just did not feel right about Bounty Killer’s performance.
The Wildfire Promotions camp which is behind the Ignition Concert had very little to say on the reports of gunfire at the show and probably has no apologies to make about how it all ended abruptly with people running for their lives. (Wildfire has since issued a press release on the incidents at the show. See page 6C)
Wildfire was not apologetic either for bringing Bounty Killer into the country — the same singer who cannot go to other countries and behave in the same manner that he did while he was here. Of all the singers to bring to Guyana why choose him?
Unfortunately, a host of things was not right at the show and that includes the inclusion of a deejay in the concert who decided to call out “bad men from Buxton and Agricola”. Hopefully for the next promotion, whatever that is, Wildfire will be more responsible and also, spare us the likes of another Bounty Killer.
(thescene@stabroeknews.com)
