It was a cool, blustery night. Not the ideal situation for an outdoor concert, but the show had been advertised, the talent had been booked, and the tickets had been sold? so the show had to go on!

I arrived at Gombeys? on Clearwater Beach sometime around 11 p.m. on Saturday night fully expecting to have missed the local acts again (entirely unintentionally, I assure you). I was greeted by an enormous crowd (well in excess of 1,000 persons), a stage that looked like it needed about two more hours of construction, and a tent-less concert ground. I had expected a tent; it was cold!

The soothing sounds of sweet Reggae music were serenading the stars on my arrival (courtesy of the imperious Souljah One sound system), and the vibes were just right for an outstanding evening of world class Reggae revelry. There is no hotter artist than Gyptian coming out of Jamaica at the moment people, and securing this performance was certainly a big deal; too bad about the delivery.

I was pleasantly surprised, and somewhat concerned, when MC Nadanja Bailey took the stage at around 1 a.m. and started prompting the crowd with ?Are you ready for Showtime?? The start was quite late to say the least.

The local portion of the show consisted of two well delivered original pieces by Twanee Butterfield, and a few succinct verses by the venerable Shorta Ranks, and lasted all of 15 minutes.

I guess there was a need for expedience at this hour. In any event, the crowd showed some well deserved appreciation for the locals, and there were absolutely no complaints when the international portion of the show started at 1.15 a.m.

Nanko was the first import to grace the stage, and by now it was painfully apparent that there would be no live band playing at this concert.

Call me old-fashioned, but I always prefer a live show to be live all around.

Singing to tracks is an entirely different thing from leading a live band into the hearts of fans.

I am a fan, and I like live bands at concerts. The DJ held his own, but the magic was missing for me (no disrespect).

Nanko delivered some filler and an adequate rendition of his massive hit ?Lucky You? to an appreciative crowd, and then exited stage right to make way for the man of the moment.

Gyptian was ushered onto the stage by a coterie of red, gold, and green clad ladies waving Ethiopian and Jamaican flags and (I ventured to guess) trying to create the illusion of a live band.

I could be wrong about that last guess.

The youth from St. Ann was greeted with a sea of ?forwards? and various other signs of approval, and he went on to bless us with a decidedly delightful performance.

Gyptian delivered all of his hits, including the beautiful ?Is There A Place?,? ?Serious Times,? and the massive ?Bring It On? with effortless grace, and by the time the deal was done, the hottest youth recording in Jamaica today had fully endeared himself to the Bermuda reggae loving public; again, pity about the live band.

In the end, this was an early season concert that could have been put together better, but was at least satisfactory.

Gyptian closed the night with a timely plea for the youths in attendance to go home quietly and not become involved in any violence, and, by all subsequent accounts, that?s exactly what they did.

Two tickets to the first big concert of the Bermuda season: $80; Two orders of mozzarella sticks, a large order of jerk chicken, and two drinks: $26; witnessing the first Bermuda performance of a rising Reggae superstar: priceless!