Nuff niceness in the Portland town! - JR Reid Review

Greetings massive... Big ups to all those that have been keeping on me for getting this updated. Lots of shows as of late, so lots to tell ya about. Respect to the whole Portland town for representing the reggae community well in the last few weeks. This is what it's all about yall. Here's the JR Reid review hold tight for the Marleys & Midnite, aight!

JR Reid -

What a blessing it was to have the big man himself JR Reid in town for a show at Conan's. I had dj'ed along with Cansaman at his show down at The Platinum Club in Corvallis last August and had seen him a few years back in Long Beach at the Bob Marley Festival. JR has been putting in work for a long long time and has a heap of classic singles and some great LP's and of course his works with Black Uhuru. The Platinum Club show was very intimate as the crowd was thin yet he still through a 2 1/2 hr plus set and I saw the full vibes that he can give. I had dragon boat practice so after that and chillin with team at Produce Row I jumped on my bike and peddled on up to Conan's. Getting there about 11:00, Finton and The Reggae Angels were on stage doing their thing. I hung outside with Xacto, Leann, and crew, getting some fresh air before JR jumped on stage. He came out rough and tough busting out a run of tunes in pure conscious dancehall style. His command and focus was amazing as he ran through so real nice rhythm runs starting off with his own tune and then running into Dennis Brown and Barrington Levy. Always kept ya guessing what he was gonna bust next. Lots of participation asked of the crowd so everyone was getting involved and sharing the vibes. It was really nice to hear his Black Uhuru Medley, playing 'Guess Who's Coming to Dinner', 'Natty Dreadlock On The Mountain Top', 'General Penitentiary' and such. My favorites were 'Mashing up the Earth' with the crow supplying the riddim via handclapping and of course 'One Blood' even pulling it up and singing it in a Spanish style. A good solid 2 hour set it was as he finally left stage around 1:40. The crowd had thinned out a bit but still mad crew in the house for a late Thursday night. Before and after the show JR was hanging by his cd table chatting with the massive and signing posters, cds and things. Nice to see him chatting it up with the people. Talked to lots of bredren and sistren around town about the show and i heard everything for 'best reggae show they've seen', 'kept wanting to take off but he kept playing big tune after big tune', 'best jr performance ever seen'. Seems like JR left a lasting great first impression on the Portland town and we look forward to even a greater crowd and vibes next time around. Big ups to Conscious Productions and Conan's Pub everytime...