Etana gives fiery performance

It has been some time since roots-reggae singer Etana performed on a local stage.

The summer music festival circuit in Europe, recording of her new album and the birth of her daughter in November, have all kept her busy.

But that drought was broken on Tuesday night as she came out to deliver an enjoyable performance at Usain Bolt's Tracks and Records in St Andrew. It was another in the Behind the Screens concert series.

Etana spiced her performance with some new and unfamiliar tracks. However, with her number of hit songs, she kept her audience engaged and reasserted her hold with as a tried and true favourite.

Her playlist for the night included Wifey, an obvious ode to Andre Morris - husband and father of her child.

Her 2007 anthem Roots, was a hit with the audience. The singer was forced to 'pull up' as patrons got excited from the song's opening bars and would sang along.

Two other tracks received a similar response, the defiant I am not Afraid and her breakout single Wrong Address. After experimentation with hairstyles, Etana is back to sporting the 'young ras look' with which she came to prominence. This also made Wrong Address more poignant.

She created a medley with this track and segued into Ginjah's Lost My Way and Richie Spice's Plane Land which are all on the same rhythm and much to the audience's delight.

Her just-over-an-hour performance would wrap on a sobering note.

The female singer would draw on her Rastafari leanings and denounce evil doing.

"Mi hear seh a devil ting a run Jamaica, but we come 'gainst that," Etana said.

She launched into a hypnotic medley featuring Rastaman Chant and Rivers of Babylon.

(from Jamaica Observer)