John Holt offers an emotive One Love to all at Respect Jamaica 50

I arrived with a throng of excited Olympic fans to the O2, and whisked through an intensive but quick scanner and search process, however I was there for very different reasons.

As part of the celebrations for the 50th anniversary of Jamaica's Independence, Indig02 playing host to a month long celebration of gigs from esteemed Jamaican artists.

The first thing that struck me was just how relaxed and welcoming the whole affair was on entering the venue with a generally older crowd leaning against the walls and swaying along to the music that was being played out before the gig.

A Jamaican patty stall and novelty photo booth were welcome surprise additions to the events proceedings to give the event more of a special feel.

Our compere for the evening was the charismatic and very knowledgeable Mandingo (a journalist and music producer) who took to the stage at the start and in between acts, providing us with huge amounts of historic information, patriotism for his country, and pure passion for the acts that were playing.

Lloyd Parks and his band were first up with their unassuming but Caribbean infused style and performed a couple of chilled out songs as a way of introduction before melting back into the background to provide support for the rest of the evening's acts.

Mandingo then introduced the next act, Leroy Sibbles of The Heptones, as being nothing less than "One of the greatest players and still is in reggae music". With a grin that stretched around his face Leroy took to the stage with a full suit and tie combo that even had a handkerchief poking out the pocket. The crowd welcomed his appearance with rapturous applause and whooping and the charming reggae star launched into a set of classics that had them singing along.

His set seemed to end at several points but didn't as he performed encores to the request of the audience and was brought back on by Mandingo to show us his skills on the bass guitar.

After another mini interesting history lesson from Mandingo about Jamaican music and its roots, he introduced the next act as a trio that had been together for an impressive 40 years; The Mighty Holts appeared on stage.

I warmed to them immediately, the calmness of the Rastafarian based trio was so inviting and as they perform together it is clear to see they have all perfected their individual roles in the group.

Vocally, it was quite a spine tingling experience with their sweet tones really harmonising in the most beautiful way and they seemed to be having a genuinely wonderful time, which spread it's infectiousness to the audience.

They played roots reggae classics that the older crowd went crazy for and that wowed those of us who weren't familiar with them. They ended their set on their infamous 'Pass the Koutchie', which had arms swaying in the venue and vocal chords belting it out and joining in.

The evening's entertainment took a different route as a Jamaican comedian unexpectedly took to the stage before the headline act, and had the audience (including myself) literally crying with laughter with his bad impersonation of Michael Jackson as well as his playful tongue-in-cheek jokes about Jamaica.

At last John Holt calmly took to the stage for his headline spot with the serenity and calm that seemed to surround the artists that evening too. Adorned in a black and silver chainmail shirt and dreadlocks flowing down his back he had an air of coolness about him that was a world away from a lot of modern acts we see these days.

He launched straight into his set, only stopping to speak after 3 songs, declaring that the night was about music and not talking, before he ploughed on through his hits.

The vibe in the venue was incredible with over excited hardcore fans pushed up to the front of the stage, as well as the older Jamaican patriots swaying, smiling and singing along with the tracks.

Holt declared in a break between songs "I'm having a good time. I want to sing for you all night long. Is that OK?", to which the place erupted into cheers and shouts.

As a stage performer he was excellent in terms of crowd contact, moving up and down the stage whilst singing, making sure he had eye contact with, waved, and communicated with the excited masses throwing their arms up at him and shouting their adoration.

Halfway through the set he stopped the band playing and began asking the crowd for requests of which of his tunes they would like to hear. It was a really interactive and fun part of proceedings as people from all parts of the venue hollered out their favourites at the top of their lungs and he craned over to hear what they wanted.

He then launched into snippets of some of the audiences choices before continuing his assigned set. All through the evening his voice remained controlled and steady even though he was covering a lot of ground on stage, and it seemed as if the tunes he warbled out with such beauty were effortless.

His last tune was 'The Tide is High' which provided a great sing-along for everyone in the venue, young and old, and he came back onstage with Leroy Sibbles, and The Mighty Holts to perform an emotional version of 'One Love' after declaring the love he will always have for his native Jamaica.

For those who were fellow patriots I felt the evening was quite moving and exhilarating and for those of us who were simply reggae fans, it was a really exciting event to be a part of proving that there is nothing better than seeing the original experts do what they do best.

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