Some of the members of the group Mighty Crown. - Contributed

Mel Cooke, Freelance Writer

The Mighty Crown lifted their first 'Death Before Dishonour' trophy at Pier 1 Montego Bay, St. James, before a massive audience just past dawn on Tuesday, beating Bass Odyssey soundly by six to one in the fifth and final 'dub for dub' round. The sound clash was not, however, without its mishaps and dramas, as Bass Odyssey's ace selector Squingy took a tumble from the stage rigging to the ground about 15 feet below and was toted away by an ambulance.

And a couple bottles, apparently from disgruntled Silver Star fans after the 'Death Before Dishonour' debutantes were eliminated in the fourth round, sent a part of the audience near the large stage scampering and the put the clash on hold briefly.

Mighty crown grabs hold

It was in that fourth round that Mighty Crown really took hold of the clash, after Canadian entrants Black Reaction were sent packing in the round before. First to be eliminated was David Rodigan in the second round, who skipped his arsenal of dub plates to start with Peter Hunningale singing Natural Mystic to open and Albarosie from Italy to end, saying "thank you Montego Bay" in a tone that suggested that he was willing to drop out.

The five sound systems played rounds of 15 minutes each, eliminations being done by a show of hands starting from the second round, with the final pair going for the best of 11 dub plates each.

Silver Star's partisan support was evident from their names were mentioned by hosts Jabba and Chin, the latter of the clash promotion team Irish and Chin, as a crowd of Jamaican-flag toting supporters gathered front and centre and stayed there to cheer for Silver Star through three rounds of insults, mostly hard-core deejay dub plates and very strong language from all save Rodigan.

Squingy, whose non-appearance with Bass Odyssey had been a talking point until he appeared in full West Indies cricket gear in the second round, went for his customary killing perch high in the rigging in the third round and fell to the ground, reassuring all that he was OK although he lay there for some minutes before being taken away to hospital. Damian stepped up front to complete the round for Bass Odyssey.

The tone and tunes of the clash changed as Silver Star came out for the decisive fourth round at 4:30 a.m. with dub plates from Third World (96 Degrees in the Dancehall), Ziggy Marley, Marcia Griffiths (Feel Like Jumping) and Toots Hibbert. There was a pause for a Squingy cause before Mighty Crown played, the selector saying "me no buy out crowd like Silver Star" before dropping Jah Cure's 'Love Is The Solution' on dub plate, following with 'One Blood' and Jimmy Cliff singing "many sound boys will fall" to a thunderous forward. "Me no buy forward!" the selector said.

And when Beenie Man chanted "Silver Star no bad like me bl...c...t Tims" Pier 1 exploded.

Admiral Tibbet announced "Bass Odyssey is a serious sound" and King Kong intoned "trouble again"; when Sizzla delivered 'Holding Firm' on dub plate Pier 1 trembled.

There was a roar as Silver Star was voted out by a show of hands, but the first of two bottles aimed at the stage came after Mighty Crown and Bass Odyssey had each played their first song in the tune for tune segment.

Silver Star's selector came on stage to say "me no know who a fling de bottle", but still appeal for peace. And a man with a bag slung over his arm by a short strap came on stage to point into the crowd, called two people by name and ordered that the clash be allowed to continue. "Anything me say goes!" he said.

The clash resumed, Bass Odyssey taking the first exchange by show of hands, but it was their one strong moment, as Mighty Crown went six straight, including a 'burial' tune in the fourth round, to take the 'Death Before Dishonour' title, as boos went up for Bass Odyssey's later dub plates at Pier 1.

Round-by-round coverage of Death Before Dishonour '07 in tomorrow's STAR.