– had no problem meeting the Dragon
Questions as to whether, more than 50 years after the beginning of his career, the Mighty Sparrow had lost any of his might were firmly answered last Saturday night when he put on a show at Thirst Park with verve and stamina that many 20-year-olds would have difficulty duplicating.
In a show billed as ‘Sparrow meets the Dragon’, Francisco Slinger, now 73 years old, not only sang many of the old favourites from his over 300 recordings, but gyrated along with singers from Byron Lee and the Dragonaires band. And while he was no rubber waist, having gained some weight over the years which showed, Sparrow was still able to show what he was made of.
The show proper began at 9.55pm when Mingles Sound Machine took to the stage for the first set. At this time the ground was reasonably populated and lines of patrons were still entering the gates. This polished, competent band, which promoter/producer Mike Fung has every reason to be proud of, got the younger members of the crowd going. It also provided back-up for ‘B-52’, the artist formerly known as ‘Lil Man’, who was not as well received.
Chairs and some tables had been placed strategically in the ground and all of them were occupied, mostly by the older patrons. While a few of them responded well to Mingles, the majority remained seated waiting for the artistes they had gone there to see.
After an energizing set, Byron Lee and the Dragonaires band was introduced and took to the stage, minus the then mortally ill Byron Lee, who subsequently passed away on Tuesday last. He was, incidentally, also 73 years old, the same as Sparrow. (The Scene extends condolences to his family, relatives and band members.) The Dragonaires, which The Scene understands had been touring for a while without its founder Lee, is another Caribbean success story. Started as a Jamaican band by Lee and his friend Carl Brady, its members have changed throughout the years. The band now includes other Caribbean nationals such as Trinidadian Oscar ‘B’ and Guyanese Jumo Primo. However, the band has stayed on the success track with its distinctive Ska/Soca/Calypso sound and has always been able to pack a venue.
Fung has been bringing the band to Guyana almost annually for a number of years for shows at Le Meridien and Thirst Park. The last few years saw increasingly diminished performances by Lee himself, following his cancer diagnosis.
Saturday was the birthday of Neville Hinds, the Dragonaires’ keyboard player who was introduced as the band leader and the audience helped sing “Happy Birthday” to him. After about an hour on stage, in which it succeeded in getting more fans on their feet, the Dragonaires introduced the ‘Birdie’.
From the time his melodious voice sang the opening bars of “Jean and Dinah”, which had won him both the Calypso and Road March crowns in Trinidad’s 1956 carnival season, the party began in earnest, with both the older and younger fans singing along and dancing. The master of double entendre succeeded in closing the generation gap that night as he belted out hit after hit, including: “Melda”, “Stop, Sparrow Stop”, “Don’t Back Back”, :Drunk and Disorderly”, “Congo Man”, “Marajin” “Salt Fish” and “The Lizard”, most if not all of which, nearly everyone at Thirst Park could sing along with. In some cases, they sang the entire song, in others, just the chorus or just a bar or two. He then turned to love songs; his rendition of “Only A Fool” setting sweaty couples stepping and his perfect mimicking of the voices of Sinatra, Redding and ‘Sachmore’ bringing forth whistles and roars of appreciation.
At the end of his set, about an hour after it had begun, sensing that patrons wanted more of him, Sparrow improvised, quickly getting the band to play a few more unrehearsed numbers and even singing one acapella, then joining the Dragonaires in one of their hot soca numbers before he exited the stage leaving a thoroughly wet, but satisfied audience behind.
The Dragonaires then began a second set and was stopped by the police. This was at 1.55 am. However, Oscar B openly pleaded to be allowed to finish the song and the band then continued with a series of older numbers that saw the audience doing the ‘Tatee’ and ‘Butterfly’ dances among others.
The show never ended until minutes after 3 am, by which time the crowd had considerably thinned out as having had more than their money’s worth and an incident-free evening’s entertainment, patrons had started to leave.