By Chaos, Freelance WriterBRIAN GOLD was without the other half of his duo, Tony, but he still did not perform alone at the last 'Tuesday Night Live - Open Microphone' at the Village Cafe, Liguanea, St. Andrew.
It was a quieter night than usual, with patrons scattered across the café in small groups chatting, drinking and laughing in a relaxed atmosphere. Guest artistes Gibby (bass) and Maurice Gordon (guitar) were jamming with house band Ting Deh - David Lazarus, also on guitar, and Cliff Bonds on drums for the night - on a number of pure instrumentals, Gordon for the most part giving guitar voice to a number of classics and soon-to-be classics to appreciative applause.
Then Brian Gold kicked off the night's open microphone proceedings.
Customary cap pulled low over one eye and standing to the left of the stage, he was on-stage with sexy actress Donisha Prendergast, centre, and actor Donald Anderson to the right, all of whom who immediately attracted the eyes and ears of those present. Together the trio embarked on an innovative reworking of Bob Marley's Redemption Song, Gold and Anderson often providing harmony as Prendergast took the lead. All three left the stage after the rendition, only to be recalled by popular demand and at the request of the MC for the night, Shaggy.
Gold and Anderson returned and were joined by Anderson's often partner in crime, Christopher Daley. This ensemble performed another cover, this time eschewing classic reggae for Shaggy's Angel. Brian Gold outshone Rayvon's vocals on the original as Anderson, with his hair in cane rows and in a bright red T-shirt, admirably filled Shaggy's shoes for the deejay section, much to the delight of the cafe's patrons, while Daley pinch-hit in both the deejay and singing parts, walking over to each and joining in as they did their bits.
They then left the stage for the rear of the venue, giving way to the rest of the acts who took the microphone and tried to entertain with varying degrees of success.
Anderson would be the first to return to the stage in the wee hours of the morning, singing Baby if you give it to me/I know what you want from the Busta Rhymes and Mariah Carey hit. He did not finish the song, but was instead re-joined on-stage by Gold and Daley. Brian started off by saying "There is a side to Brian and Tony Gold a lot of people don't know...," before introducing his next song as having been written for the people of South Africa. Cheers greeted this introduction, cheers that got even louder and more company once the opening bars of Can You were sung, Daley and Anderson, with sound effects and all, filling in for the missing Gold during an excellent rendition with the help of the resident band, which by this time had been joined by guitarist Omar Francis.
Brian Gold closed his short set with Billy Paul's Me and Mrs. Jones, doing more than justice to the classic before leaving the stage, applause echoing in his wake.
The night saw good performances from the likes of Bostonian rapper and human beat box Wayne Marshall and the multinational jazz and blues ensemble Jazzsabroson, interesting ones from acts such as Aaron 'AG Advance' Hubbell, Vernon DaCosta, the cafe's bartender Colin, guitarist and vocalist Andrew Scannell, 'gangsta' rapper Ice Water and Daniel Edwards. There were also amusing ones from acts such as deejay Platinum, who for some reason did most of stint facing stage-right.
