On Friday night in the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion was not sleeping. The lion was actually quite alert and lucid as he watched over the Global Arts stage at number one gate on Kindley Field Road, St, George's.

That was the scene of the legendary David Rodigan's annual romp through the annals of Reggae history for the entertainment and delight of his thousands of local fans. Friday night saw the veteran Englishman share the stage with another legend whose stature in Jamaican Sound System culture is every bit as imminent as Rodigan's.

The event was sold as a clash of titans; and titans they are! Rodigan versus Rory of the majestic Stone Love Sound System; the match-up was nothing short of mouth-watering.

I made the scene at around 11 p.m. to find roughly 500 die-hard fans bubbling to the sounds of OGS Genesis. The vibe was nice and the setting was very impressive. The tent, stage, and bars were tidily constructed, and the ample concert ground appeared more than ready to accommodate a massive crowd of Reggae revellers.

The massive crowd never showed up, but the audience did swell to over 1000 by 12.30 p.m., leaving roughly half of the field unoccupied, and making for a quite comfortable outing.

Double S came on at 12.10 am and played an impressive set that found him flexing his musical muscles in combination with some serious social commentary. Gems like The Mighty Diamonds' "I Need a Roof'', Barrington Levi's "Vice-Versa Love'', Junior Murvin's "Police and Thieves'', and Dennis Brown's "Revolution" punctuated Double's points with considerable magnitude. Double S played a generous set, and left soon after the headliners began pacing the stage like caged lions preparing to enter the arena and eat them some gladiators.

The format of the clash portion of the evening was quite strictly regulated. Round 1 was reserved for classic dub plates, round two was classic vocal plates only, round three was classic deejay plates, and round four was new tune. The show then went into a one-for-one format, with three selections from each sound.

You'll notice that I called this a "show" in the last sentence of the previous paragraph. Well, that's because this event felt far more like exhibition than competition, more pre-season than play-offs. The "battling" parties exhibited such a high degree of respect for each other throughout the evening that this appeared to be nothing more than an international friendly entertaining, but ultimately meaningless. Rory took the stage first, playing through some technical difficulties and delivering a solid first set. The crowd had made more noise for Stone Love from before the clash had even begun, but once Rodigan took the stage, his infectious jumping, gyrating, high kicking, and lick-shots won over quite a few attendees. Rodigan took round one.

Round two saw Rory dropping enormous specials by the likes of Max Romeo ("Iron Shirt"), Garnet Silk ("Complain"), Marcia Griffiths ("I Shall Sing"), and the great Nitty Gritty. Rodigan responded with fire from Little Roy, Dennis Brown, Junior Reid, and Michael Prophet to the utter delight of the rapacious crowd. Rodigan took a close round two.

Burron Banton opened round three for Rory, followed by sensational specials from Beenie Man, Shabba Ranks, and a generous portion of Bounty Killer. Rodigan turned to the likes of Buju Banton, Sizzla, Capleton, Josey Wales, and an even heavier serving of Bounty Killer, which made this the closest round of the night. In the end though, the edge, and the round, went to Rory.

Round four saw Rory consolidating his new wind, dropping fabulous new specials based on such big tunes as Demarco's "Fallen Soldiers'', Damion Marley's magnificent "The Mission'', and the massive "Doh" by Bugle and Serani. Rodigan fought back with new stuff from Beenie Man, Busy Signal, Bounty Killer, Beres Hammond, and Tarrus Riley. A valiant effort to be sure, but the damage had already been done, and Rory emerged the clear winner of round four.

The one-for-one section of the clash was dominated by Rodigan, with specials from Garnett Silk ("Keep Them Talking") and Tenor Saw ("Ring the Alarm") providing unforgettable moments on a night that was quite surprisingly forgettable.

Don't get me wrong, the show was decent, but the hype and expectation earned and very much deserved by these two giants of Reggae music was never really met. Neither man was at fault, there was just a little something missing. Saturday night in the jungle offered more of the same: a sound system "show" featuring Rodigan, Souljah One, and Magnum Force (Dirty Harry's favourite sound). Saturday's show was witnessed by about 700 less people than Friday's, and could easily have been merged into a single night of sound system revellery.

I spoke with Rodigan after the show on Saturday night. He appeared exhausted, but perked up considerably when asked about his impression of the entire two-night event.

"Well, I very much enjoyed playing alongside Rory last night," he offered, "And it was a great pleasure to be welcomed so warmly by the people of Bermuda once again."

2008 marked the 13th year that Rodigan has been coming to Bermuda to delight the local Reggae loving community. Let's all hope we'll get another 13 years of dub plate indulgence from one of the top sound bwoys on the planet; I know I am!