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FROM THE uppermost tier of the National Stadium's grandstand, Beres Hammond's 'Moment' was beautiful even before it began on Sunday night. The amphitheatre-style seating flowed into the white VIP chairs laid out symmetrically on the cycle track and part of the coveted athletics strip which Bolt, Powell, Campbell and others thundered to victory.
A huge stage, itself with an impressive backdrop, faced a highly anticipative crowd.
From the upper regions of the grandstand, too, well past the slated 8 p.m. start, the lights of cars laden with folks headed for the momentous occasion could still be seen heading down Arthur Wint Drive to join the line of traffic.
Not that those already inside seemed overly concerned about the late arrivals; there were three rounds of impatient applause for showtime, which finally came at 8:25 p.m.
The huge swathes of white cloth were pulled away to reveal a stage with a series of steps, each riser accentuated with a neon strip, and dancers who moved to Hammond's hit song Rockaway, first on piano then with the full band.
Four-hour wait
The crowd had to wait for four hours before they saw Hammond in the singing flesh, as he exchanged lines on the chorus of Rock Me Tonight with Freddie Jackson, who utilised excellent showmanship to complement good singing and had the audience standing and squealing.
The result was a hurried end to Hammond's set, which had been a stand-and-dance affair since his opening - a flashback to the 1970s when he recorded mostly Rhythm and Blues songs.
Then came the rockers of the 1980s, beginning with One Dance, and the hits of the 1990s (although there was some disappointment that Buju Banton was not around to rasp "who sey big man don't cry" after Hammond confessed "Now I'm falling in love all over again").
As Hammond moved into the current decade in his 50-minute performance, in which he was a humorous host, he paid tribute to the late Alton Ellis with an a capella version of Weeping Willow.
He then made the announcement which sent patrons streaming out of the venue.
He said that the late start was not his fault and the 'Moment' was slated to end at 1 a.m.
"It's 1 o'clock now. It is not my fault," a smiling Hammond said.
The closing number, which involved most of the night's performers and a choir, was done as most turned to the exit.
Not that the wait for Hammond was boring. Far from it, as from the opening Right Time of The Mighty Diamonds through to Freddie McGregor (who was battling hoarseness but did not fall into the doldrums of average) closing the first segment, it was almost entirely a singalong affair.
Standing ovation
The Diamonds actually got a standing ovation after their love song close, while further in the first segment, Barrington Levy took the house down with the rockers of Murderer (done with Beenie Man) and the piercing Vice Versa Love.
John Holt was the Carpenter who built a house of melody, Michael Rose rocked it Black Uhuru-style before going dancehall with Shootout, Toots did a sing-and-response on 54-46 and U-Roy woke the town at Hammond's request.
The younger voices of Jimmy Cozier and Courtney John were interspersed with the more mature in the earlier going.
After a 35-minute break of party time with DJ Inferno, it was 'youth time' again with Lenya Wilks.
Marcia Griffiths (glowing in gold), Gregory Isaacs (who had one of the longer, crowd-pleasing performances) and Jackson (who turned the venue topsy-turvy) formed a triple wallop of electrifying boogie, cool lover's rock and outright soul, before Hammond took his moment.
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