Hope your Valentine’s Weekend was as nice as ours.  We started off the weekend by getting “toasted” on Friday Night, while checking out special guest DJ “Andy Mix”, who did a great job at the Crossroads.  On Saturday (Valentine’s Day) our plans were to travel to Manhattan, New York for lunch, however due to us being hung-over we were unable to make it for lunch, but we arrived around 3 pm, so we had an early dinner instead.  After grabbing a few items (you know my wife can’t go anywhere without buying anything), we arrived at our favorite restaurant and enjoyed the great food.  After chilling and enjoying the food, we headed back to DC so we could attend the Sanchez show.

We decided to get to the show early to avoid the parking problem situation, and as we pulled into the parking lot, we ran into an old friend who always brings good tidings from Jah.  Thanks Candace…sometimes we believe you are definitely sent from Jah!!!!  After chilling with Candace, and getting caught up, we “rolled” into the club and was immediately consumed by the vibes…G-Nice was juggling real nice.  Being that it was a Sanchez show, the music was smooth and mellow and not “jumpy…jumpy” or “crack headish” (as we call it), just real nice for the lovers to rock to.  As we surveyed the place we noticed, as with the dancehalls we’ve experienced and love, the crowd had made their usual circle around the dance floor and was rocking and vibing to the music.  G-Nice was living up to his name that night; he was the true “vibes master”.  We’re not sure exactly what time the show actually started (which goes to show that the music was so nice that I didn’t even had the time to focus on show time…whether it started late or not).  Anyway, Tony Carr introduced Flouragan, who I didn’t, realized had so many hits and who did a good job warming up the crowd.  Ritchie Stevens (who I’ve been checking out for a number of years), followed and he truly performed for the lovers.  Every song this talented artist did was very, very good.  He performed many songs he wrote, did a few by Luther Vandrose, Dennis Brown, Bares Hammond, and many more.   During a performance of a Luther Vandrose song, a friend whispered to my wife and I, that her knees were week and buckling from how good this man was performing the song (better than Luther).  The crowd really loved Ritchie Stevens, he is a true talent, and has the potential to be a big star like Luther Vandrose.  He will be definitely on the list of artist we sign when Arious obtains its ultimate goals.

After a very good introduction by Tony Carr, Sanchez began singing “Here I Am” a few feet away from us (back stage), before emerging on to the actual stage.  He was very sharply dressed in a white suit, red shirt and tie and a white hat.  At this time, I glanced over at my wife, and she looked as if she was in heaven…she loves Sanchez dearly.  He sang every one of my wife’s favorites (which was all his songs), and as you know all of them are hits, he even did some R&B songs and made them sound better (in my opinion).  Needless to say, the crowd loved every moment of his performance, and really enjoyed him and the show (as they usually do).  Even though Sanchez is a “ladies man/singer”.  I heard men shouting and “bigging him up”.  Valentine’s this year was really, really nice.  If you were among the many that checked out this show, hit me up and let me know your thoughts about it. If you are not in the DC area you are in luck. These 3 great artist are in the middle of a US tour so look out for them in your town,  this is truly a show you don’t want to miss.

Sunday we attended the Bob Marley Celebration given by Sister Dera at the Nation’s Night Club here in Southwest DC.  I must “Big Up” Sister Dera for a job well done!  This celebration was very well organized with vendors selling memorabilia items, Ras Records with owner Dr. Dread, along with Big D (Derrick owner of Big D Productions) selling CD’s, tapes, etc., and all the wonderful food provided by Marcia from Exotic Tropic Caterers.  Their fish was delicious!  We got to the celebration around 7 pm and were treated very nicely by everyone, with everything being “first class”.  After obtaining some drinks, we nestled into the beautiful VIP section several levels/floors above the crowd to take in the show.  This VIP Floor was “off the hook”; actually this entire club was the “bomb”, (I really liked the set up).  The DKGB band was on stage and they did a real good job entertaining the people, I was especially impressed with the new keyboard player and his singing.  During their performance we decided to leave the VIP and mingle for a bit, we saw many “stars” in the DC Reggae world, such as Carl Malcolm and his lovely wife Anita (Carl Malcolm and the Positive Vibrations Band); Sidrach Franklin from WPFW, Chick of Chick Productions, Ann and her lovely daughter (Manager of The DKGB Band) Frank, and many, many more folks in the entertainment industry.  After more drinks we finally ran into Sister Dera who was very busy, we exchanged greetings, and she expressed her appreciation to us for coming out, we in-turn expressed our appreciation for the very nice treatment.  She informed us that Dominican born Reggae Star Nasio Fontaine would be performing soon.  After mingling some more we headed back to the VIP Section to take in some of Nasio’s performance.  His music is very “rootsy” and his voice is very similar to Bob’s, so if you closed your eyes, you would think you were listening to Bob.  The evening was very nice and our congratulations and thanks is extended to Sister Dera!!!  It was a very good celebration and production!!!

We are looking forward to this weekend, because all the meteorologists have predicted the weather in our area will be warm and wonderful.  On Friday check out either: Crossroads Happy Hour, Zanzibar Happy Hour or Killi’s Happy Hour.  On Saturday check out the Radio Boys Fete at Killi’s Café, and on Sunday, if you are in Delaware or feel like taking a ride to Delaware, check out the Bob Marley Celebration.  See my ad below for details.

If you are Cricket fan and you are planning on checking out the first test match (England's tour of the West Indies) at Sabina Park in Kingston Jamaica, March 11-15^th.  Check out air Jamaica’s Cricket Sale which runs thru February 27^th . They are offering round trip economy class air fare for $430.00 from Washington/Baltimore. Check out the add below for details. If you’re not leaving from the Washington area log onto www.airjamaica.com

Nuff Blessings

Saturday February 21st

THE BIRTHDAY BASH

Featuring 

Live Reggae & Neo Soul

Open Mic (Registration 7pm to 8pm)

Bob Marley Video Show

DJ. Ras Cipher

Complimentary Caribbean Cuisine

Admission $10.00

Sunday February 22nd

THE EXPO

Fashion Show

Holistic Healing and Living Center

Children's Village

Art's & Crafts

Root's & Culture Film Show

Drumming, Dancing & Music

Poets & Artists

Prizes & Givaway's

Grand Prize!!! A Jamaican Vacation

FOR INFORMATION CALL: 856-451-8663