 Who
can forget the summer of 2002? Yes, it was the summer that launched dancehall
music as a mainstream and commercially successful cross-over prospect,
providing seasoned “underground” artists proper, and long overdue, respect.
It was both a blessing and a curse, in the minds of many. Bridge and tunnel
weekender car audio systems blared the endlessly repeating VP Record’s
Reggae Gold 2002 compiled singles, “Shizzle My Nizzle,” and “Gimmie
the Light,” back to back, through the streets of San Francisco, over and
over and again.
Since then, fueled by mainstream
media attention, ranging from a November 2003 Billboard cover
story, to MTV and BET video airplay, the Energy God--Elephant
Man--has come a long way, launching his album, Good to Go, on
Atlantic records, last December.
The last time Elephant man played
in San Francisco was the comfortable Sunday evening of November 23, 2003,
at the very unlikely venue of the basement parish hall of St. Mary’s Cathedral.
 The
Sabbath performance did not seem to meet the expectations of the often
unforgiving SF Bay audience. As the show wore on to the 2 AM, even the
most dedicated of red-eyed dancehall fans left the parish hall for, what
seemed, other reasons than getting up for work the next morning. His very
rehearsed rendition of “We Are the World” fell upon deaf ears, perhaps
a symptom of an endorsement of suspending judgment on Michael Jackson’s
alleged misdeeds.
Perhaps it was Elephant Man’s
insensitivity to the geographic rivalry between San Francisco and Los
Angeles; by the end of the show, his shouts to LA were taken by the crowd
as total disrespect.
Slick, stylish and confident
on stage and during the backstage press conference, E-Man embraced the
local media and fans with open arms, relatively oblivious to the apathetic
response of the audience to even the notion of an encore.
The distracting whine of feedback,
as well as having to stop the show to instruct the sound engineer, can
hardly be considered the fault of the Energy God.
His vocal skills were in top
form, and the Scare Dem Crew brought much needed artistic diplomacy
to the stage to the unforgiving anti-Roman and homophobic lyrics of Elephant
man (who was performing in a Cathedral, after all).
 Not
that the crowd was not adequately warmed up for the Energy God. In fact,
the highlight of the night, judging from the crowd’s response, was not
Elephant Man, but the blazing high grade DJ sounds of the TNT Sound System.
The superb selections and toasting by Leo & Doogie of TNT Sound System,
and rewinding of Sizzla’s “Just One of Those Days,” rocked the
crowd into a fury. Complex also provided guidance to the effect.
Of course, his repeated shouts
to LA and the Big Apple in the heart of Jah-Jah City will be remembered.
Shouts to LA will never be a way of winning over the strong hearts of
proud Giants and A’s fans; the Energy God faces a new challenge in the
Bay this month.
It is an open question as to
whether Elephant Man will sell out San Francisco this month, but judging
from his perseverance to follow in the footsteps of Sean Paul to bring
dancehall to the mainstream, he will return for a second round, undoubtedly,
hard and rough, without any apologies to his critics.
Elephant Man will perform at
the Warfield on Saturday, February 21, 2004, at the Annual Bob Marley
Day festival in San Francisco. For more information, visit: http:/
/ www.bobmarleydayfestival.com/lineup_artistinfo_SF.html.
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E. Ivan Trujillo is a writer,
attorney, and producer, living in Berkeley, California. He is a co-founder
of www.respectrecords.net,
a record store based in Seattle, Washington.
© 2004 E. Ivan Trujillo (all
rights reserved)
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