Inner Circle is pure energy! All about the excellent show by Jamaica's "hit factory" at KVA!

One week after Gregory Isaacs, the king of "Lovers Rock", KVA handed the stage to another worldwide reggae legend: Inner Circle. With more than 20 years on the road, the band displayed its full dynamism - from the roots era of legend Jacob Miller and the Reggae/POP boom of the 1990s with Calton Coffie, up to the current phase with vocalist Kris Bentley and a stronger DanceHall edge. Handling the night's DJ set, Dj Marcello Tux prepared another set full of surprises. With creativity, Tux mixed current national and international bands, but focused on the "reggae-fever" period, when reggae dominated youth summers in the early 1990s. The scene was almost entirely ruled by bands like Pato Banton, Shaggy, Jimmy Cliff, Chaka Demus & Pliers and, perhaps one of the most important of all, Inner Circle, which sold more than 7 million albums with Calton Coffie on vocals. After one heavy tune after another, the entrance was announced and the crowd moved closer to the stage. With strong stage presence, the singer led the arrival and immediately fired off "Shock Out", from the album Bad to the Bone. Those standing nearest the speaker stacks could feel their bones vibrate under Ian Lewis's deep, powerful bass lines. Constantly engaging with the audience, Kris Bentley took a chance in Portuguese - "Let's sing together!" - but even in English the crowd understood the message, including one aimed at U.S. President George Bush, whom he accused of fueling division among peoples. That criticism came right before "Rock With You". Songs like "Sweet Jamaica" and "Da Bomb" stirred up the crowd, and requests could be heard everywhere: "play '24-7-365'... play 'Bad Boys'". Everyone knows Inner Circle is a "hit-making machine", and that becomes obvious because even the least informed listener instantly recognizes the songs as soon as the first chords or vocals begin, like "Na-na-na Na-na-na..." from "Games People Play" or "A La La La La Long..." from "Sweat". Sweat, which in Portuguese means 'suor', summed up the heat of both crowd and venue, where even vocalist Kris took off his shirt and then invited a woman from the audience to dance samba with him onstage. We were also treated to the beautiful "Book of Rules", featured in the film Rockers in the voice of The Heptones, plus two classics that exploded in Brazil, "Bad Boys" and "Black Roses". There was even a medley from the Jacob Miller era. Speaking of "Killer" Miller, while the band was tearing through "Alright", the crowd recognized the similarity in the guitar and bass riffs and started singing in unison - "Dreadlocks can’t live in a tenement yard... Too much su-su su-su su-su, too much watchie watchie you" - and sure enough, Inner Circle answered the call with the anthem "Tenement Yard".  Download the MP3 "Tenement Yard" (2.39mb). At the encore, another surprise: Kris Bentley called interpreter Patrícia to deliver a message:  "I am going to say a few words that come from my heart... Inner Circle traveled mile after mile to be here... and we will come back whenever YOU WANT! You have a beautiful spirit, a beautiful heart... Jacob Miller would be proud of you... Bob Marley would be proud of you... and WE ARE proud of you!" With deep emotion in the air, Kris asked everyone to hold hands and sing "One Love", Bob Marley's classic, together. It was goosebumps all around. Right after the show ended, the band still showed remarkable humility and attention to fans in an autograph session beside the stage. What a night: a high-energy concert, and they still stayed with fans to the very last one, making the effort to speak our language... Kris Bentley and Inner Circle, WE ARE THE ONES WHO ARE PROUD OF YOU!

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