Early in the season, Machel Montano announced that Machel Monday would be a three-hour concert but with the number of guest collaborations he had lined up to deliver, most felt it would be near impossible for him to do it. In the end, Montano and his guests delivered nearly five hours of pure energy in what many have described as “the best Machel Monday” ever.
Last year, Destra Garcia’s surprise appearance at Montano’s concert signalled that the two were again on good terms after several years of estrangement and this year, the two collaborated on Come Back, a groovy soca song devoted to soca music fans. Montano featured the song in a pared down “unplugged” section of the concert. Montano on the cuatro—yes, you read that right—was joined by singers Nikita Hastings from Barbados and Roger George, along with a guitarist and a drummer.
They started Come Back, and were joined by Garcia, who sounded in top vocal form. They also sang Bob Marley’s No Woman, No Cry, Garcia’s Bonnie and Clyde, With or Without You (the U2 hit that Montano reworked in 1999) and Adele’s Someone Like You. The chemistry between Montano and Garcia was palpable, and at one point someone in the crowd said, “we could leave and they wouldn’t even realise, they’re in a zone.”
Of the other collaborations, the most anticipated was the highly infectious Party Done with Grammy-winning Trinidad-born songwriter Angela Hunte. Hunte, whose family is from Barataria, was overcome with emotion at the end of her performance. She hugged Montano and cried tears of joy as she felt humbled by the outpouring of love from the massive crowd at the Hasely Crawford Stadium.
It’s interesting how the dancehall and reggae segments were received at this concert. Jamaican sensation Chris Martin joined Montano to do their song Soak and then he sang some of his popular hits including the highly popular Cheater’s Prayer. Montano and Martin were joined by Roger George, the former Charlie’s Roots and Xtatik singer known for his unique vocal range.
People sang along with gusto as they did for Shaggy, who after singing Remedy with Montano, gave the crowd some of his big hits like Angel, Chruch Heathen, It Wasn’t Me and Big Up.
Beenie Man is a perennial favourite with the T&T audience and this time was no exception, even when he brought on his “dancer” the West Indies cricketer Dwayne Bravo.
Sean Paul also made an appearance but somehow his performance fell a bit flat and he didn’t move the crowd, even though he did some of his hits like Big Up and Temperature.
Among the other notable performers were Nadia Batson, writer of the songs on the Patrol riddim, including Montano’s Friends and Dem. Batson thanked Montano for his “energy, talent and love.” Another favourite was the consistent Kerwin Dubois and 19-year-old Nava, who is making a mark with Festival, his collaboration with Montano.
The one performer that Montano had hoped to have on stage with him was American pop sensation Ariana Grande, who joined him and on the Major Lazer remix of Larger Than Life. The sticking point was Grande’s large fee.
Montano has been plagued by small controversies all season, most notably with respect to his actions last Saturday at Fatima All Inclusive where he blasted the organisers for their sound system. He’s hasn’t hesitated to call out his band members when they make mistakes. But on Monday night, it was abeaming Montano who said, “We got it right tonight!”
Barring the problems at the gates with audience members who took a long time to get into the venue and those who had problems with e-tickets, Machel Monday was a triumph of staging. The lighting, stage and sound were all excellent and it seems that the perfection that Montano finally got the perfection he was seeking all season.
