Shaggy performs at the One Love Concert series in Negril. - Dalton Laing

Negril got its first dose of Shaggy mania last Tuesday as the reggae superstar made an appearance at Negril Escape for the One Love Concert series.

'Mr Lover Lover' dropped a bomb on a bumper crowd which came out to see the hit maker who last performed in Negril a year ago at a spring-break concert.

Shaggy will be back in the resort town this Saturday at the Jungle nightclub.

sonorous cheers

The multi-platinum artiste fired hits from all sides of the stage, pleasing his audience in the process. The songs were many and all were greeted with sonorous cheers. Bonafied, Boombastic, Pretty Little Woman, Angel and Strength of a Woman were crowd pleasers and as the show progressed, there were still more screams set aside for songs like It Wasn't Me, Church Heathen, Bashment Gal, Hey Sexy Lady and Mr Lover Keep You Rocking.

After 80 minutes of performance, Shaggy exited the stage but MC Sir One W recalled him for an encore. Returning to multiple screams, Shaggy stayed another 10 minutes as he sought to stay within the restricted time limit.

The One Love Concert series started in November and features a top reggae act each Tuesday at Negril Escape. The series continues tomorrow and will feature Jah Cure. Promoter Carey Wallace describes the series as a key ingredient to the tourism mix. "Instead of sea, sand and sun, we want to offer to the visitors Brand Reggae to complete the tourism package," he said.

SUPPORT

Shaggy will share the stage with Elephant Man on Saturday and Wallace believes that his performance at Negril Escape will not take anything away from the support which is anticipated at the Jungle.

He said that Shaggy performed for a 'premium' type crowd at Negril Escape but at Jungle it will be during spring break, so a different category of fans will be available. Making comparisons, he said that for his show the price was $4,500 while at Jungle it will be $1,500.

"I wouldn't want my show to hurt the other show or vice versa but from the support I got, I know that the show at Jungle will be well supported because of the spring-break crowd and the locals who preferred to wait for a lower-priced ticket," Wallace said.

Fans enjoy Shaggy's performance at Negril Escape last Tuesday.