‘Dem get on bad!’
Beres Hammond, known for his trademark lover’s rock sound, can sure move that waist for an older man! His show at Broward Center for the Performing Arts, Au-Rene Theater on August 6 was superb.
The crowd shouted, ‘skanked,’ sang and laughed throughout the last gig on Hammond’s Take Time to Love Tour.
Beres’ daughter performs
The show started half-hour late (leave it up to Caribbean people)
with Beres’ daughter who sang three songs accompanied by a DJ and her brother on drums.
After her mini set, DJ Kingfrno played a mix of retro dancehall and smooth rhythms which had the audience doing moves from the 1990s including the Bogle, Tattie and Pepaseed dance moves.
DJ Kingfrno also paid homage to incarcerated deejay Buju Banton. At one point, he had the crowd shouting “Free Buju.”
Audience on a high
By the time Hammond came on stage the audience was on a
high. He was decked out in a multi-colored jacket, and signature cap twisted to the right, smiling broadly.
He looks older than his promotional photos, and thinner but appears happy.
Although Hammond’s voice was rough, and he appeared to be straining at times, he pulled through. But the crowd did not appear to notice.
He interacted with his Harmony House Band, danced with the background vocalist and made a fan’s night when he did the song, ‘I Feel Good’. When he sang the line, ‘I’d like to wipe the
sweat off of your face’ he did just that to the fan, to the delight of the near full house.
Keys to the county
Halfway through the show, Broward Commissioner Dale Holness, presented Hammond with the Keys to The County.
The Commissioner, on behalf of Broward County and City of Fort
Lauderdale, proclaimed August 6 Beres Hammond Day.
Throughout the show, fans stood and danced in the aisles and front of the stage. He sang all the favorites such as ‘They Gonna Talk,’ ‘What One Dance Can Do’, ‘Tempted to Touch’, ‘Double Trouble’ and ‘She Loves Me Now’. He ended with ‘Rockaway’.
Everyone was in that zone, remembering the songs that made them rock away. It was a nostalgic end to the evening with a satisfied crowd leaving the theater on cloud nine.
