The concert market globally took a hit due to the pandemic and perhaps no other genre has been more affected than reggae/dancehall since most artists get their bread from performances. However virtual concerts and social media provided an opportunity for the few who managed to either do their own concerts or other events.
For most of the year artists stayed away from performing in front of a crowd totally. Sean Paul indicated that he is not traveling in the uncertain times but the culture of reggae dancehall was put on display last year like no other although no live events were allowed in Jamaica for most of the year.
Here is a look back at 2 Reggae/dancehall performances of 2021 that had fans satisfied.
- Beres Hammond, Love From A Distance
Arguably the best reggae concert of the year, Beres Hammond reminded everyone why he is the man virtually or live in February last year. The show was well rehearsed and featured guest appearances from Popcaan, Marcia Griffiths and Buju Banton. He delivered hit after hit for two solid hours with a peak virtual attendance of 125,000 live viewers on YouTube and recorded close to 500,000 views within eight hours of the original stream.
Always in fine form Beres took it over the edge when he performed Sweet Lies, Groovy Little Thing, Kid’s Play, Sweetness, I Could Beat Myself and Full Attention and a new song “God is Love” with Popcaan which is now the 20th most streamed song in Jamaica this year.
The respect between @PopcaanMusic & @BeresHammondOJ 👊🏽
Big up @VPRecords #ReggaeMusic #BeresHammond #Popcaan pic.twitter.com/aKbwVNK1bn
— Sound Chat Radio (@IrishandChin) March 1, 2021
- Thriller Verzuz 3.
In October Triller and Verzuz paired world-class boxing matchups with a reggae concert featuring some of the biggest names in dancehall and reggae at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
It was the third event in the TrillerVerz series, the weekend extravaganza had separate tickets for each event starting at $27.50 and fans from across the world were able to watch the events, including the dancehall showcase for a $2.50 monthly subscription to Trillerverzpass.
Starting off the dancehall event was Teejay the Uptop Boss and Kranium who wowed the Brooklyn crowd. Wylcef Jean played toastmaster, DJ and the MC for most of the night. One stand-out moment during his DJ set was when he played a Kenny Rogers Dubplate which set the tone for the real dancehall vibes to come.
Other acts on the event included Cham, Barrington Levy, Konshens, Dexta Daps and the night’s headliner Supercat.
#SuperCat closes out his headline show at the Barclays with his hugely popular “Don Dada” track.
The event was hosted by #Verzuz and saw performances from other Dancehall acts including #Cham #Konshens #BarringtonLevy among others.#ENewsChat https://t.co/yUFY2U0Hwi pic.twitter.com/tyRSWVxuGw
— Sound Chat Radio (@IrishandChin) October 17, 2021
