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By:
Mathenge Moses | |||||||||
| Posted:
Jul,13-2019 23:56:15
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When the big ship docked at the Salisbury Beach without a commotion and on to the stage captain landed to a deafening applause from a mammoth crowd. These fans, a perfect collage of ethnicities, color,national origin and age had arrived at the Blue Ocean Music Hall at Salisbury Beach to party with legendary reggae icon Freddie Mc Gregor aka Di Captain.
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Freddie McGregor aka Di Captain in action. Pic By Mathenge Moses/ Ajabu Media
On this beautiful Sunday, the 2nd day of June Di Captain did not disappoint the near capacity audience that braved the inclement weather to drive to the sleepy seaside town of Salisbury Massachusetts for the concert.
It was at the peak of his stage performance that the drums, guitars, saxophones and all the accompaniment went silent, and in the rebarbative silence that ensued,The Jah man, personally singled out, and acknowledged the exceptional presence, of members of a particular nationality amongst the wild crowd, Kenyans.
The simple act of recognizing Kenyans not only made those in attendance feel irie but also gave them a formal sense of belonging. It made them get feel high like a kite ushering in an even greater applause for his remaining performance for the night.To return the favor, there were Some scattered sounds of ululation, a unique sound produced by central Kenya women in recognition of a special child. The traditional sounds were ultimately drowned by the more urban raucous shouts of joy. Nevertheless they made their presence known!
In his mid show special dedication, Mr. McGregor narrated how he was pessimistic of his popularity in Kenya, until his iconic performance at the KICC Comesa grounds early March of last year."What I did not know is that, my songs were so popular in Kenya. And the Kenyan people asked me to sing a song, and I was kind of surprised I have not done that song in a long time…But tonight, I gonna do it for all my Kenyan friends here and I will get back to..And if you know the song just sing along with me. Goes like this ..." Said Freddie,as he called on his fans to sing along with him the song 'I Wish There Was A Way' as a special dedication to honor Kenyans, citing that it was the song that was highly requested for, while in Nairobi Kenya . (Oh, I wish, I wish there was a way that I could read your mind And I know just the way to make that sacrifice), the song continues.   (A cross section of the concert goers feelin' irie from being in the proximity of their icon Di Captain) Pic By Mathenge Moses/ Ajabu Media The show was unique and fan friendly as Freddie was available and mingled with his adoring fans Contrary to other celebrities who are not available to their fans after a concert concludes. He set aside his celebrity status and stepped straight downstage to take photos with his fans. The photo op turned out to be of great demand among Kenyans who trailed and scrambled to take a proud photo with him, most of which grazed their social media profiles instantly. In my previous interview with the "born winner", he was preparing for an African tour that culminated in Nairobi and marked by releasing a song in praise of the Kenya's founding father the late Mzee Jommo Kenyata. The extended tour which would have taken him to West Africa was later canceled under an abundance of caution due to an Ebola outbreak and the all too familiar political upheavals that rocked Kenya around the last Presidential electioneering period. The public confession for his affection to Kenya and its people isn't the 1st among music artists of Jamaican origin. Alaine Laughton has been pitching camp in Kenya and released a love song 'wafula'. She fondly refers to Kenya as her second home, to the correction of her fans that, "Kenya isn't your second home, it's your home Jamaica happened to adopt you from us by mistake," according to one of her twitter posts. Recently some members of the Reggae Royalty the Morgan Heritage are said to have appealed for Kenyan citizenship from the President of the Republic of Kenya, President Uhuru Kenyatta. They are said to have expressed interest in making Kenya their retirement home and want to start investing. Perhaps the most joyous of all the fans was one George Njane who on his maiden night in America met face to with the reggae icon having missed the Kenyan show when it sold out. "What a great day, I just landed in America last night from Kenya and guess what, on my second day I attend a concert by Freddie by the ocean view".Said Njane who claimed that "there is no greater aeration in levity than having the privilege to chat one on one plus a photo with him Di Captain," The Same sentiments were shared by Sammy Ndungu an all time reggae addict who had to tweak his itinerary from Athens, Ohio to attend the concert while on a visit to Boston. "I have never seen an ocean since I landed in America feeling and sharing the same breeze with Freddie is just like sharing a communion brethren" added the excited Ndung'u. Unknown and oblivious to the Jamaicans who are the bona fide proprietors of reggae especially the Roots & Radics, Reggae is arguably the most popular genre of music in Kenya with clubs and radio stations dedicated to the same. Literally, every reggae star in Jamaica today has a following in Kenya, among them President Uhuru Kenyatta, who once publicly confessed on having been stuck at a particular age of reggae music. Some street vendors earn a living hawking reggae music to pedestrians and commuters, while the mushrooming African gospel artistes largely rely on reggae beats.    
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Source:
Ajabu Africa News
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