Long Walk To Freedom

8 years……. That’s how long I’ve waited, to see the love of my life, Mark Myrie, aka Buju Banton, aka Gargamel.

I anticipated and was prepared for my “long walk” to the stadium, due the road closures for the event, and with the exception of a selected few, no one was allowed to park at the venue. I left my van and hopped into a route taxi with my brother and my friends, which dropped us close to the national stadium, where our journey started.

We got to the stadium around 2:00 pm, and I was not surprised to see hundreds of supporters at the gate, patiently waiting for it to open at 4. As time drew closer to 4, the hundreds grew to thousands, all wanting to get in to secure their seats before showtime at 8.

8:00 came, it was showtime.

There were performances from Wayne Wonder, Wayne Marshall, Gramps Morgan, Delly Ranx, Marcia Griffiths, LUST, Etana, Agent Sasco, Romain Virgo, Christopher Martin, Ghost, Chronixx, and Coco Tea, who brought on the new sensation Koffee to share a song with him. Everyone delivered stellar performances leading up to the reason for the evening.

Fans from Jamaica all over the world, filled the National Stadium for the “Long Walk to Freedom”. The stadium is built to seat approximately 30,000 persons comfortably… Approximately 40,000 persons were present. I do not think the stadium seen so many persons in attendance for an event.

There was a band and set change, the moment we’ve all been waiting for was just a few moments away. Elise Kelly (for the non-Jamaicans) an announcer on the reggae radio station Irie FM, walked out to begin introducing the man we all are now on our feet waiting to see.

The lights in the stadium went out, and all camera phone lights came on (including mine), all wanting to capture the moment. The crowd was ecstatic and the cheers echoed in the nearby communities of Mountain View. The spotlight came on and lit the center of the stage, which raised the decibel of the crowd even higher.

Buju Banton, slowly walked out dressed in a full white suit and stood at the mic, I couldn’t even scream, I just smiled and looked and recorded the moment we have waited for, 8 years, 6 months, 27 days, 13 hours, 5 minutes and 26 seconds.

The Long Walk to Freedom concert began and my heart was full to be among the many persons witnessing Buju’s return to the stage.

SUMFEST is next to BBC!!!