Jamericans

I have been thinking about posting something with regards to an evening there for a while now and now that I see a posting on N.com I think I will.
It was the first week of January and I had seen the advertisements posted all over. I love Terry Linden and really wanted to see him. Now I am not one to go out much in the evenings, and I kind of chastise myself for not seeing more artists when in JA, so I decided I was going! One other thing that inspired me was my girlfriend who hadn't been to Jamaica in 20 years. She was a newbie and was into going. My husband was out and he decided to stay home with the kids. It didn’t take much to talk one of the buddies into to coming but then I had to work on Felix. If course, I can always guilt Felix into stuff. I know him well enough that he doesn’t go out to this stuff very often, but a friend of mine had mentioned that he went with them to a concert at Escape one night. HA! That’s all I needed… (of course he came with us LOL!)
Soooo, it is is 1200 J per person to get in. The last time I was at Roots it was back in the day of free Wednesdays, where the stage was up near the bar. OK so I pay for three of us , cause I wanted to go so badly. The place is tarped coming off the beach road and some dude is standing in front of the entrance. I walk up and he stares at me as though he has absolutely no idea why I am there. So, I say, umm would like to see the show…. He says… 1200J still standing in front of me. I say to him, well I can’t pay unless you let me in… WTF? So he lifts the tarp and it’s like I have to squish by him cause maybe a mouse might be trying to get in to see the show. We all squish through one at a time and pay. Hmmm this is an odd start to the evening, I’m thinking. OK we get inside and lawd knows how long it takes to get a drink… It’s not even busy and it just seems like chaos. We finally get a drink and stand in the sand. I’m not one to stand in the sand for too long, but I’m gonna suck it up cause I want to see Terry. OK onto the actual event…
The sound system at Roots needs an upgrade. Real bad. They had not one but 2 real bad MC’s. They had a Magician, yeah OK whatever, then up came Jamaica’s Michael Jackson. Now I love MJ and I was looking forward to this. WHAT? LIPSINKING? Sweet Jesus. Now I give the guy an A for effort cause he was trying but if seemed obvious to me that someone at some time told him he resembled MJ and he was going with it. He pulled a little girl up on stage and it was cute cause by the look on her face, he may as well have been MJ himself. Anyhoo, after a couple of minutes, something happens, and he is either pulled into the audience or jumps into it and fight arises. Lawd…. He holds his own and the other guy who is involved is chased out by a crowd. Good thing they don’t catch him out onto the beach he runs… OK so now Yellowman. Now, I like Yellow man don’t get me wrong, but he has had his day. Again the sound is terrible. It’s now 1:30 and Terry comes on, well by now I am so damn tired I can’t even hold out till he is done. I’m done. Oh and much earlier Felix said he was going to the bathroom. Again I know him well enough that he is not going return. He heads to the car, disgusted.
Now, before some of you blast me, let me say, I like Roots, I have enjoyed many a night there, but 1200J for an evening of this caliper was disconcerting to say the least. It was good enough for perhaps 500J but 1200J was ridiculous. What kept running through my mind was ‘are there tourists here, who think this is the Jamaican standard?’. Boy I sure hope not….

Excellent report Winnie.
I'm glad to be reminded of how not to waste my money.

I can't imagine that first timers are getting a very good impression of Negril these days. If I were a newbie I wouldn't have made it past the the tarp!

I'd have to concur, Wednesdays at Roots SUCK anymore. & I started out at Roots when I first went to JA.

No tent/tarp back then & definitely 'no cover' charge.Culture usually played there quite often. Also, back then the Hurricane Band was pretty good.