Feel the rhythm, feel the rhyme, come on now it's bobsled time.Jamaica has a bobsled team that can rhyme, but that Jamaican team can't flow half as well as the bad-ass Kingston native, Eek a Mouse, who's killer reggae performance rocked The Aggie theater last Thursday.
A light haze of smoke and whiffs of chronic hovered around the small venue as the band began to open up for the show. The scene seemed perfect for Eek a Mouse, whose band demanded some buds being lit up in their honor before he came on stage.
The crowd waited patiently for his arrival and after the numerous introductions from the band without a mouse appearance, the band again informed the crowd that the mouse only comes out when he smells cheese. Just as before, thick smoke percolated up towards the stage and the mouse made an entrance. He moseyed right onto the stage in his customary straw cowboy hat, and immediately broke into his unusual style.
He grabbed the microphone, "Eh yo... this here a Eek a Mouse... propa English," he echoed, "Some say war war, many say not...don-don-diddie-dan-dan, biddie-bom-bom, biddie-bang-bom." As he continued the unique style, the crowd flowed with the beats and melodic tunes, and instantly the music took control of the entire atmosphere.
The creative lyrics and incredible songs Eek a Mouse produces are actually a sub-genre form of reggae dubbed singjaying and came into popularity shortly after the death of reggae great, Bob Marley. Singjaying was the obvious choice for a term coined for the popular fusion of singing and deejaying simultaneously.
Although they were many "singjayers" before Eek a Mouse, it was him and others like; Tenor saw, Pinchers, King Kong, Sanchez, and Thriller U that really helped make "singjaying" popular in the modern reggae scene.
The half-filled audience for part one of the two set show clapped and cheered after the mouse finished, and like all Foco natives, hastily made their way back to bar for the unlimited drink special that was almost over. Eek a Mouse, surely backstage firing up some ganja, eventually returned to the stage, surprised to see that there was a tightly packed audience awaiting his return.
His bloodshot eyes and relaxed demeanor further let the crowd know that the mouse was getting some cheese in the back, and his voice and style came out stronger than before after the intermission. He encouraged the crowd to dance on stage and sing along, and eventually everyone seemed to be caught up in his eclectic tunes. The show went on for another hour and concluded with a three song encore.
In Eek a Mouse fashion though, he saved the best song for last, and ended notably with his best work, "Wah-do-dem."
Overall Concert Rating:
4 out 5 Herbs
