Although not as ram-packed as its been for other reggae shows featuring wider known acts such as Sizzla, Anthony B, Beenie Man and Capleton, on May 9 the Zen Nightclub in Port of Spain was still filled with patrons feeding off the vibe of German reggae artiste Gentleman and the Far East Band.

This reporter must admit that it was amusing to see him speaking about fighting against oppression of his people as well as burning Babylon. Adding to the attraction was Gentleman’s on, then off again Jamaican accent.

Laying aside those oddities one must admit that Gentleman does have some good music and he does deliver an entertaining performance accompanied by some slamming musicians. The singer and band had the Zen crowd moving in unison and singing along to every song presented on the night. Even at the end of the performance the audience continued calling for more.

Opening his set with ’Superior’, Gentleman took the stage skanking old school style and was greeted by the deafening screams of not just the women but some men as well. One man got so excited he nearly fell over the railing on level two overlooking the stage.

With a large number of the audience singing along, Gentleman and his, ’players of instruments’ performed hit after hit, each song flowing into the other. Throughout his performance Gentleman praised a number of reggae artistes including Bob Marley, Dennis Brown, Peter Tosh, Sizzla, Richie Spice and Jah Cure, singing snippets from several of their songs and performing collaborations he recorded with some of them.

Opening for Gentleman was fellow German act Jahcoustix who performs original reggae accompanying himself on an acoustic guitar. Opening with a song entitled ’Appreciation’ Jahcoustix performed six pieces including ’Special Place’ and ’Another Day’ before taking his leave. He did return later to join Gentleman on stage for a couple minutes.

Near the end of Gentleman’s performance he left the stage to walk into the audience as he sang ’Dem Gone’ making the night for several women who had been trying to grab hold of him when he was on stage. After some minutes among the audience Gentleman returned to the stage, exiting shortly after for the third time since he began the performance.

In the hour thereabouts Gentleman was on stage he performed songs from each of his five albums to date. His repertoire included ’Tabula Rasa,’ ’Jah Jah Never Fail,’ ’Leave Us Alone,’ ’Rainy Days’ in which his wife, Tamika joined him for a duet, and ’Intoxication.’ Along with snippets of songs by Richie Spice and Dennis Brown, Gentleman also impressed the audience when he sang some lines of ’You’ll Never Find’ by Jah Cure.