By Makendal
Bon bagay net. Large amounts of items were donated and the outside of Marabou Cafe along with the “other” new location of Marabou Cafe was filled will donated items.
Food for The Poor Representatives were at the door along with Miss Haiti and Kerlyne JP to keep things in order. 98% of all patrons paid the $20.00 at the door although there were some individuals (Marabou Cafe regulars who think they are special) who did not want to pay at the door to help their own country.
At 9:30 pm the place was still scarce and the lights were on. I wish they had kep the lights off. That will be for another post some other time. In any event, Hangout began the evening at approx. 10:45pm and did an excellent job. Although they played to a near empty venue of approximately 100 people, they performed as if they were playing for a packed house. The two singers, Frero and Saida, were full of energy and matched each other pye pou pye in the energy and dancing. Frero’s voice was particulary on point, and although Saida’s voice could hardly be heard since she was on backup singer mode, she did an excelelnt job dancing in the beginning. Pat gen okenn vye jes vye gouyad stripper/pole dancing. When her voice finally came through during one of the stes, Saida let everyone know about her voice.
Prior to the show starting, Ricthie from Zenglen did get on stage to say a few words. He thanked Hangout for graciously playing first and explained to the audience the reason behind the night’s endeavor.
Hangout byen jwe…yo lage konpa solid to the point that “kè-m fè m mal pou djaz la paske yo gen bon mizik nan lestomak yo”.
After Hangout performed, there was a monetary stage hiatus as equipments were being changed, plugged, unplugged. During this time, Coogi of the kreyol rap group I AND I perfomed. His kreyol twist of words was on point and one of his songs (Sa-w Tap Chèchè-a Ou Kounye-a w Jwenn Li) seems to be a success already because by this time, Marabou started getting packed and the people up front knew much of the words. Coogi commanded the stage by having the DJ kill the background music so he could give straight acapella lyrics…bon bagay net.
Aubri Blag, the interim host, performed some “blag”/jokes on stage while the band was setting up and also introduced another female singer whose name escapes me but she sang a song that had everyone clapping and cheering. Her vocals are so good that if she were to be interested in the HMI, anpil zot tap gen pwoblem.
Following this performance Zenglen got on stage and all of Marabou fluctuated towards the stage. What was about to happen was amazing. Kenny and Frero sang together and Nickenson Prudhomme was called upon to hit the keyboards. There was nothing but love, accolades and admiration. Nickenson played the keyboards with an ease that was remarkable and actually at one point was talking to someone while playing…and not just playing a repetitive sequence of keys, but PLAYING with different grooves. Mac D was on the sidelines just soaking in the moment, seeming a little reluctant to join the foray but he was pulled on to teh stage by Kenny and Mac D performed a Bob Marley song in a musical mixture of Harmonik and Zenglen musicians…it was like Harmoglen or Zenglenik… The crowd was cheeing and dancing and enjoying themselves greatly and many shoutouts were given to Haiti… the musicians stated that no matter what, fok yo te la pou sipòte ak ede peyi yo.
I left after this (2am) paske mwen menm, mwen te gen pou mwen al travay demen-matin. I did notice alot of other HMI personalities in the house…Gazzman, Cleo, Ralph Conde, memebrs of Gabel, some of the T-Vice camp, and others whom I am not familiar with by name.
I am only assuming that if everyone paid the $20.00 at the door and there were a good 700-800 people there when I left, the minimum that was raised might be anywhere from $15,000-$20,000. The amount of food/non-perishable items donations was equal in proportion, although there needed to be more control at the door regarding the rule that a patron had to pay $20.00 AND a food donation…paske gen moun ki vini deu men vid but got in anyway.
Hopefully Port Au Princess/Beltifi will come with the pics and a continuation of the review. She was taking alot of pictures!
I appreciated the fact that food For The Poor was AT THE DOOR so that there would be no questioning regarding the money. You were even given a receipt for your cash donation which is tax deductible.
Source: OpaMizik
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