Snow hits on cold night
By JAMES REANEY - London Free Press
September 15, 2001
With the temperature sliding down toward single digits, it
was no problem to see Snow in the forecast at the Western Fair grandstand.
But Snow, the Toronto reggae, hip-hop artist who is Darrin O'Brien
when he's off-stage, had to earn his top spot on the bill after a hot
opening set from emergency special guest Kardinal Offishall and his
hip-hop crew.
Snow moved up to the closing spot on last night's bill when soul pop
group soulDecision cancelled late Thursday due to transportation problems
in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in the U.S.
Both singers shared their reaction to the attacks and the emotions
they've brought out to the crowd, estimated at 600 fans.
Snow stopped his set to say how music stood out against such
violence and hatred. "We don't want to do that (hate). We want to do
this," Snow said. "It's great to have all different races and
all different colours together," he said, gesturing to his band and
then around the audience. (Snow is white and his band includes blacks and
whites).
Snow also said he "loved Kardinal" and what the Canadian
rapper had said during the opening set.
Offishall and his fellow MCs and the group's DJ had kept things hot
with Kardinal even working up a sweat on what was a cold night. Then,
Offishall had asked the audience to listen to "something
important" -- about events in the U.S.
"You guys heard about that, right?" the Juno-winning
Canadian rapper asked after talking about the U.S. tragedy.
Then he preached a message of tolerance. "We're people . . .
we're a people with peace in our hearts. That's why we're a peacekeeping
nation."
After the cheers for Canada's traditions of tolerance died down,
Offishall asked for more of the same. "You can't see (a person on the
street) and say, 'that person's a terrorist' . . . we're all God's people
. . . that's what I'm saying."
The crowd cheered as loudly as it had for any of his rhymes and
beats. Then, the tall rapper with tight eyewear and loose-fitting
coveralls went into the small crowd pressing up to the stage one more time
to share Bakardi Slang.
Then it was time for Snow, who had spectacular DJ Sheldon Moore in
his lineup and back-up singer KB. Unlike Offishall, whose lineup was heavy
with MCs, Snow also brought a fine band -- drummer Randy Cooke, guitarist
Adrian Ecclestone, bassist Robbie Patterson and keyboard player Andrew
Craig.
Snow closed his hour-long set with a run of his big hits, including
Everybody Wants to Be Like You, Sexy Girl and the 1993 classic, Informer.
All displayed his amazing verbal gymnastics. Snow can handle reggae-styled
vocals by breaking up words and spitting out syllables faster than almost
anybody else.
The dark-clad singer also spent plenty of time mixing with the crowd
-- not big, but enthusiastic -- down in front of the stage. He also had
the perfect foil in backup singer KB, who is strong enough to hold the
stage by himself with his rapping.
The soulDecision cancellation was the second at the 2001 fair
because of the tragedy in the U.S.
Canadian country singer Terri Clark cancelled her Wednesday show,
when she was unable to fly out of Calgary.