Who Needs A band? Sizzla Raises the roof at the Village

I'd normally be the last person to support an artiste performing to tracks, even in the confines of a small, semi-outdoor lounge like Kingston's Village Blues Bar.

But when you're Sizzla Kalonji, and you can have audiences eating out of your hand (and screaming the lyrics to your songs) from the opening number to the last, then who needs a band.

the Judgment Yard chief delivered two of the most powerful sets - although the second devolved into a bit of raunchfest - that I've seen in quite some time, and all with just "freeze-dried riddim tracks" spun by a DJ. Most, if not all his best hits were represented. There was some new material also, and the man christened Miguel Collins too the time to inform the audience he was brushing up on his "ancient tongues" such as Amharic, Gize and Hebrew (though he didn't offer any noticeable evidence of mastering those difficult languages).

Still, it was one of those rare nights when artiste and audience were totally in sync, and that irreplacably electric energy resulted.