Review by Ron Nelson
I arrived at the venue a little after 10 PM to see Mighty Crown on stage in the middle of their first ‘warm’ (set). It was still ‘early’, but, those in attendance were the first wave of people to come and build the scene. The order of the night was Super Fresh, King Turbo, Poison Dart and the Far East Rulaz – Mighty Crown. We had the hostess with the mostess, Ms. Tasha Rozez. She held her own throughout the night and kept the dance flowing and on time. With six rounds in total and four Sounds vying for first place, time management was essential.
Round 2 – Real Steel
10:32 PM – The Real Steel round started with Super Fresh. They seemed excited to be the first up in this round which required each Sound to play vinyl ‘Real Steel’ on turntables. Super Fresh blazed a fire and spoke about the times when Sounds had to use cassettes to record. As older Sounds know, when going through the x-ray machines at the airport, you were not guaranteed to have music on that cassette when you got home. At this point, there was approximately 100-150 people in the venue and they continued to trickle in for the rest of the night. As Super Fresh continued to beat tunes from Barrington Levy, Shabba, Snagga Puss, Frisco Kid and Bounty, they got a little too excited and ended up bouncing the needle, but, made a quick recovery which set the tone for the rest of the round.
King Turbo was up next. Sharpe came on the mic to say that King Turbo would not be playing on the turntables. He told the crowd that “Everybody already know that KING TURBO have the dub them on ‘real steel’, but due to some issue, which we nah go into, we a play pon di laptop”, which to me, was a disappointment as I arrived early, especially for this round. I’m sure many others felt the same too. This was King Turbo’s first strike of the night. They did play well from the laptop and showcased some of their biggest dubplates from Leroy Sibbles to Dennis Brown. Right away, you could tell they were in good spirits. The chemistry between Slingshot and Spex was obvious. Sharpe seemed to be comfortable controlling the mic, but needs more practice connecting his speech with the tunes. As a team, they seemed much more prepared than they did at REAL STEEL in January. Adding Slingshot to the mix played a big factor in the success of the night for the King Turbo crew. Fatal Vibez seemed to play a consulting role in assisting King Turbo throughout the night.
Poison Dart came out on time and ready to play. They showed the range in their dub box and seemed to enjoy playing in the ‘real steel’ round. Poison Dart had a slow start, but, made a steady build and won fans along the way with quality tunes from Sizzla to Dennis Brown. Taranchyla did well to educate the crowd on the history of vinyl and how it was made, schooling some of the younger selectors and DJs who have never had the pleasure of seeing vinyl pressed or having to carry the weight of a dub box.
Mighty Crown came with a plan. They knew what direction they would go in and never looked back for the rest of the night. Sami T proved to be a very entertaining MC, he was versatile and on point every time he touched the mic. He embodies what a true MC should be – he barely had to look when Ninja Crown was spinning on the wheels of steel and yet he didn’t miss a beat.
Round 3 – Singer/Combination
11:30 PM – This round was supposed to be the Surprise Artist round. Tasha Rozez came on stage to announce there was a slight change to the schedule and that the Singer/Combination round would be before the Surprise Artist round. No one seemed to mind the change in schedule and it was on with the show. The crowd was getting bigger by the minute, so it only made sense to hold off the artist round until the crowd peaked. Super Fresh came with a huge fan support. Their section had T-shirts made up and they came out numbers. Many people in the venue were excited to hear Super Fresh play as they haven’t been in the forefront lately (playing out or clashing). We can clearly see they have been cutting dubs on a low and keeping them for events like this. This made their fans happy and helped them gain a few new ones. They operated like a well oiled machine ready to take on anybody and everybody.
King Turbo came hard with some unusual combinations like Shabba and Cocoa Tea, then Barrington Levy and Buju. This is the round where I expected King Turbo to soar and lead where they couldn’t be caught. We hear the calibre of tunes they play on Morning Ride and we know this is Slingshots specialty. Yes they had many exclusive dubs, but the selections they played didn’t have as big of an impact because they chose songs that weren’t as popular to the crowd in the venue. It’s almost like they were dub confused, with so much to choose from, I’m not sure they picked the biggest bangers in their dub box. Jah cure’s “That girl” got a big forward and woke up the crowd but I believe that this round should have sealed the night for King Turbo with or without an artist. This was their opportunity to pull away from the other sounds and be seen as the front runner for the rest of the night. They played well really good but should have and could have smashed the place. Sharpe didn’t help, his speech was basic and his tunes were heavy. With practice Sharpe may have potential, but the jumping around would be less important if his speech would fire the shots that KING TURBO was playing to back him.
Poison Dart used this round to show Canada that they have big dubs that are legal. Taranchyla seemed very comfortable in this round and liked to start each round slower and build to a bang. I’m not sure this made a major impact with the crowd as they got a few small forwards but nothing that really moved the crowd. Despite playing Marcia Griffiths, Luciano and even Sizzla, Poison Dart proved to be kinda boring and this was the beginning of the end for them.
Mighty Crown’s Sami T jumped into the crowd to give a wine to the camera lady and then said he came to Canada to “Beat some Pussy” He backed this by playing tune after tune and hit after hit and kept the crowd well entertained as he continue to talk to the ladies and tell them what he wanted to do to them. Sami T told the crowd that this was a fun ting, a showcase ting and true seh him nah clash cause he didn’t get clash money the least Ron Nelson could do was give him a drink. Shortly after a Heineken was brought to him and Sami T’s vibes only increased from there. He had the crowd hanging on his every word just to see what he would do and say next. Mighty Crown got two big forwards for this round, Beres and then Wayne Wonder with Buju combination. This had the crowd rocking and skanking to the beat.
Round 4 – Artist Round
Super Fresh hoped to surprise the crowd with Demolition (a.k.a. Ras Demo) as their guest artist. Super Fresh over shot their target when choosing this pick. Demolition man has many hit songs out right now and is even flooding the airwaves of Toronto and abroad with his cleaver hooks and catchy harmonies. Demolition man thought it would be an easy feat seeing that he is familiar with Toronto and hoped to rock the crowd. Unfortunately for Super Fresh the crowd did not respond well to Ras Demo and he tried quickly to recover by moving through some of his other songs hoping to win back the crowd. This did not work and resulted in the first set of small boos for the night. Lindo P came out fast and hard with two minutes left on the clock. Immediately the crowd cheered for Lindo P and he had the place moving to his beat and breathed the life back into Super Fresh. It’s too bad Super Fresh didn’t make the executive decision to pull Demolition off the stage sooner and put Lindo P on. It would have gained them more points and had a greater impact on for them in this round. Lindo P captivated the crowd and had them bawling for more.
Little did we know what was to come… King Turbo dropped the riddim and everyone stood still to see if their ears were really hearing what their eyes were seeing. When Freddie McGregor from the Big Ship family touched the mic the whole place tear down. This was the biggest forward of the night so far. Everyone can agree King Turbo made a wise decision when choosing who to bring to represent them. Coming off of Cham last year there was a lot of speculation if King Turbo would be able to outdo themselves. Clearly they did this with flying colors. Once Freddie McGregor hit the stage one can arguably say that King Turbo was leaps and bounds ahead of everyone else. Worse coming off the Demolition man from Super Fresh, King Turbo set the bar high and I’m sure Super Fresh at that moment wished they had invested more for another artist. Spex and Slingshot took to the back as Freddie McGregor stole the show. From start to end Freddie held everyone’s attention and sang some favorites and even a few spexculsives which helped to propel King Turbo to the front of the race after losing the real steel round by default and not hitting as hard as they could have in the singer round. Undeniably the highest point of the night. The King Turbo left the stage with a smile than looked like the cat who had swallowed the canary.
Poison Dart was next out the gate and sorry for them but Freddie McGregor is a hard act to follow admitted Taranchyla. Again like Super Fresh, Poison Dart didn’t anticipate such a huge artist and tried to go on with a few of his own original songs. He got NO forwards and alot of Boos. Taranchyla did his best to showcase some of his song which the crowd was not at all familiar with. Toronto has been known for its Hecklers and they made their displeasure known. Taranchyla took a hint and cut his set short, saying soon Toronto would know his song too and to give new artist a chance. This was almost a double strike for Poison Dart.
Mighty Crown was too happy to use the extra time left from Poison Dart as they had two special guests to feature. It was a real treat to all sound men, sound clash fans and real reggae lovers to see Johnny Osborne take the stage with Brigadier General. They performed some real classics that excited the crowd and had the venue jumping. Sami T bigged up King Turbo and recognized them as having the best artist for the round which took nothing away from the great performance of Brigadier General and Johnny Osborne. Even with extra time Brigadier wasn’t ready to leave the stage when Tasha Rozez came for the mic. Johnny Osborne let everyone know he hasn’t been to Canada in 20 years but he’s a veteran in the music and helped to buss the Canadian Reggae market. As an elder he has a wealth of wisdom and should be treated as a living legend.
At this point the energy was high everyone in the building was hype and excited to see what would happen next. Tasha Rozez came on to smooth the transition into the Anything-a-Anything round. Tasha said “like how di last round did set away, make sure unno prepared fi di next round.” It was amazing to see all the sound man who came out to support. They could have taken a booking for that night but chose to come to When Dubs Did Nice. Special shout out and honorable mention to Step-A-Choice, Polly Famous, DOC, Black Reaction, Vertex, Don Rankin, Dyce Locke, Dessert Storm, Chris Dubbs, Biggs 4000, Capleton, Ital Roots and the many others who came to witness an epic night of greatness for reggae music.
Super Fresh knew that had to come hard to combat the previous Artist round. At this point the Super Fresh fans turned up the support and were very vocal in cheering and making the most noise. Super Fresh went in, seeing that no one has heard them play in a while it was refreshing to hear the big bad killing Sound Super Fresh in their element on a big stage. They played well and picked up alot of forwards along the round. Milo was excellent on the mic and when he brought Louis Ranking on stage they got a huge forward. In hind sight Louis Rankin might have helped more in the artist round. Super Fresh showed their comfort and pleased the fan with Sizzla, Bounty and even threw in some Tommy Lee. In previous clashes Tommy Lee has gotten mixed reviews from the crowd. Super Fresh used this to their advantage and hyped up the crowd with Super Fresh Crazy no they mad Insane.
King Turbo was still riding the high from the previous round. This round would not be an easy feat. With Polly Famous in the building, making his presence known Sharp took this as a personal attack. Instead of staying focused on the task at hand, the showcase, Sharpe decided to address Polly Famous directly. This was King Turbo’s second strike. By King Turbo changing their focus to Polly they lost track of what they came to When Dubs Did Nice to do, which was showcase what they have and compete against three big Sounds on the bill. Polly always seems to get the best of Sharpe whether he’s booked to play or night. Polly Famous’ presence alone seems to alter Sharpe’s mood and throw him off his fame. King Turbo dropped a huge Jr. Gong but Sharpe’s speech was not connecting to the tunes being played as his attention was on Polly. Polly used this slip from Sharpe and evoked the other hecklers to join him in booing Sharpe and King Turbo. Super Fresh fans joined in with Polly Famous and the boos got louder. Many people have such high expectations from King Turbo that it’s hard to please everyone. Again another round played well but King Turbo has now lost the lead they gained from the artist round.
Poison Dart knew that up until this point they were just juggling. Taranchyla changed direction and played like ten Vybz Kartel in a row and followed that with the best of the B’s – Bounty and Buju. Bounty being the warlord had the crowd moving and gave Poison Dart their most consistent forwards. Buju showed that his presence is missing in the reggae community and he is sorely missed. After this round it was clear that Poison Dart was at the back of the pack playing catch up.
Might Crown was calm cool and collective and used this to their advantage. Mighty crown paid attention to the crowd and knew exactly what to play to get the people moving. Sami T showed his true talent on the mic and even called out Ron Nelson calling him a “Donkey Dread” before moving on to tell the time keeper he want to take her home. Sami T told Lindo P that he needed to “give them some dubs and to stop di fuckery chuh bumboclaat.” Sami T seems to be the one of the best in his field and on a worldwide stage can hold his own against anybody. It didn’t matter what Mighty Crown played for the rest of the round because Sami T did what Sharpe couldn’t and that was have the right speech every time he held the mic. Mighty Crown had a strong finish in the fifth round and was ready for the tune fi tune.
WAITING FOR AUDIO TO LIST SONGS AND ARTIST AND WHICH SOUND PLAYED IT FOR TUNE FI TUNE ROUND
As this was a showcase and not a clash I have mixed feelings. I think that Mighty Crown stole the night. They came hard every round and made it seem effortless. This was King Turbo’s dance to lose. They had home court advantage and arguably the biggest dub box in Canada. King Turbo played good, great even over all, but because we all know what they are capable of, they should have won by a landslide and had everyone else waaaaay a back. Super Fresh held their own throughout the night and can say at moments they edged ahead of King Turbo but their artist choice proved to the their demise. Poison Dart killed themselves when Taranchyla stepped on stage as their artist to represent them. Agreeably Freddie McGregor was a hard act to follow but even without Freddie, Taranchyla got the least response from the crowd as an artist and when playing in each of the dubplate rounds. Sharpe is fighting an uphill battle which he seems to be losing as everybody knows that he left Dessert Storm and use this to style him in the dance. Sharpe tried to address this by saying “Tasha a you everybody a grudge mi fa.” Again Sharpe reputation seems to King Turbo’s disadvantage.