Live
Jimmy Cliff: Rise Festival - Finsbury Park 13/07/2008
Legend of Reggae, Jimmy Cliff had his set unceremoniously cut short by combination of late running, licensing regulations and over zealous officials.
What had been up until that point a great set was ruined when, half way through a number, Jimmy was seen mouthing the words with no sound was coming up from the amps.
Many in the audience crowd initially thought it was technical problem and so hung around. No representatives from the Rise Festival event organizers came on stage to announce what the problem was so the crowd started to drift off. It is, however, understood that either the police or Haringay Council officials gave the go-ahead for the plug to be pulled following an over-run on the allotted licensing time. The Greater London Authority Press Office has confirmed that Cliff’s technicians brought extra rigging in addition to that provided by the organizers and that took an 20 minutes to be set up causing an overrun. Stage management and the performers were given an additional 10 minutes at 8:30pm to wind up the show.
In spite of the abrupt manner in which the show was brought to a close, Jimmy , his band and the backing singers spread the feelgood factor around the park for the 40 minutes that they were on. The show kicked off in bubbly fashon with 'You Can Get It If You Really Want It' that was met with a huge cheer and some dancing and this was followed by two more anthology belters –
'Beautiful World' and 'Wild World,' both of which were sung with gusto by the crowd. Political and Anti-War messages have featured prominently in many live performances this year and in this respect Jimmy Cliff was no exception. Cliff also voiced his views about the Iraq war by saying “We’re the people of the world and we don’t like it ” and he linked this message nicely into the anti-war song Vietnam.
Then, disaster struck, just when the vibe in the park was at its most mellow. Jimmy’s performance was curtailed in the middle 'Rivers of Babylon.' Many people, some of whom had traveled from the Midlands and the North of England left disappointed and angry. To treat an entertainer of this caliber or the public in such a cavalier way is shoddy and smacks of petit-minded bureaucracy. In short, this was a public relations disaster and marred what had been an otherwise enjoyable evening.
Words DARREN LEWIS
