soul II soul
back II life
Dave Lennon
Official Jet Bike Jumping Champion,
Back II Life Antigua 2004
MY REPORT OF THE HOLIDAY FOR THE LADS ON NORMAN'S SITE (NOW ADOPTED ON HIS DIARY SECTION):
I'm only writing this report because I promised Norman in Antigua that I'd do it for his website...and it's a long one as well, you may want to make a cup of tea and inform loved ones of your whereabouts...
To be honest, I'm still so shocked and depressed that I'm back in London...it hasn't really sunk in. So much so that I actually didn't listen to Norman's Giant 45 show last night as it was only going to bring back all the Back II Life/Antigua memories... and I was just too depressed to deal with it at the time...
I am just going to try to do this report in one chronological sweep. If I miss anything or anyone out, I apologise.
I went to Back II Life with four mates from London and we all decided to start over at my mate's place in Kingston. So that meant a night of sitting around, drinking and trying to chill...but just ended up with everyone getting well excited about the trip. We were like a load of kids on Christmas Eve.
We luckily got to Gatwick early as I had been booked on an earlier flight at the last minute and would be travelling alone to Antigua whilst they followed two hours later. I wasn't that bothered and it actually turned out sound as I sat next to Corinna, one of the organisers, on the way over and got the low down on the coming week and a bit of background as to how and why it was all taking place. I also met a load of lads from Bournemouth and the flight ended up a proper giggle.
It was only as we caught sight of the Antiguan coast that it really began to sink in that we were going to be spending a week in paradise. As the plane touched down, we were all staring out of the windows at the lush green hills, white sand beaches and luminous pale blue seas that flashed past. We walked off the plane into brilliant sunshine and a steady warm breeze. It was a very good feeling to be in Antigua.
Jazzie himself greeted us at the airport (nice touch) and I ended up in a crazy cab ride to the hotel with a load of Bournemouth lads. At the check-in, I found out I'd be spending the week in my own 3rd-floor apartment, facing right out onto the beach. Ace. I didn't even bother unpacking. I just legged out onto the beach and dived into the lukewarm sea. As you do, when it's only 50 yards from your bed. But the water was really shallow and I effectively sandpapered the front of my body. I saw a few other people do exactly the same as they arrived.
By the time my mates had arrived I'd hooked up with boys working the beach and everything was taken care of. I felt like an old pro, showing them around and we sat off on the beach for the rest of the day. Later on took a look at the hotel's evening entertainment, Mr Moves, the fire-eater (underwhelming, until he burnt himself) and then just got stuck right into the all-inclusive bar, cleaning them out of Pina Coladas in a couple of hours. Great claim to fame, yeah.
The next day I had my first ever go on a jet bike. Within 10 minutes I was doing little jumps off the incoming waves. This later became a big thing between the lads on the holiday to do the biggest jump. Then that night we all got messy at the bar and were picked up at the hotel to be taken to the first SOUL II SOUL night out.
DAVID RODIGAN @ Dickenson Bay
The first night was a personal revelation. I 'got' dancehall. I always liked a few little bits and pieces - but I never thought I could really get down to a whole night of it. Rodigan's party gave me the chance to experience it as it's supposed to be heard - in some hot dark yard, in the middle of a few hundred people, hemmed in by palm trees, stood next to a massive speaker stack in the company of a load of local lads I'd met on the beach. I forget the name of the first DJ who was on, but I was totally blown away by Rodigan when he stepped up.
I'd never seen him or heard him play before and was amazed when this little bald white guy came on stage and the spot went absolutely nuts. One of the local beach lads said that all his boys travel around the islands to see Rodigan when he's playing somewhere; such is the respect he holds within the dancehall community.
Rodigan had won the crowd over before he even dropped the needle on a record. One memorable bit was where he said - "Now this here is a sound that the London crew had never heard..." and proceeded to play a load of tropical bird/wildlife noises, much to the amusement of the locals before he dropped in a killer bass line.
I can't even name 99% of the tracks he was dropping although there were ENOUGH called-for rewinds from the crowd and an extra special appearance by Glenn Washington, "Ever Ready" Freddie MacGregor and another artist who just blew the place apart freestyling over instrumental versions.
The hours passed and everyone got trolleyed. One of the best things about the holiday was that there was only 100 of us Back II LIfers out there (as they wanted to keep the numbers down for the first event) and all week the DJs like Norman and Trevor were just out, partying with us all the time, which helped to build a great atmosphere all-through the holiday. Apparently I'd spoken to Rodigan at some part of the night cos he was giving out shouts to the "Liverpool Crew" (a mighty crew of one) ....the best part was that by the end of the night all the Soul II Soul crew and the locals were all having a proper laugh, sharing beers and the rest, getting down to some boss tunes - one of the ones that killed it was that Alicia Keys - You Don't Know My Name (Diamond Crew remix). Big.
Also, big respect to Jazzie who came out of the party to make sure we all got cabs safely outside the dance. We got back about 6am and everyone decided to hit the sack as we didn't want to cane it too early in the holiday.
Basically the rest of the daytime in the week was spent waking up, going for breakfast, getting your head down with mock embarrassment as you seen people from the previous night, sitting down with anyone you met (the individual groups soon formed into one massive group of mates), getting on the beach and either chillin, getting a suntan or joining the lads on the jet bikes, risking life and limb to do the biggest jump off incoming waves. I lost my crown a few times but with two days to go I caught this one wave as it was about to break and I shot straight up in the air, about six feet according to unbiased reports from a wide variety of eyewitnesses on the beach. Champion of champions! But all the jet biking did have an effect on the evenings as a few of us were seen dancing funny early-on due to "a bad case of the JB's" (Jetbike Back). I have a mini-football-sized black bruise on my arse, still).
Trevor Nelson @ The Beach, Dickenson Bay
Anyway, the next night was down at a bar called The Beach with Trevor Nelson doing a night based around his MTV Lick parties. The bar was roadblock but it was all open-sided so you could escape the heat of the dance floor and stroll out onto the outside sections and from there onto the beach and take a seat on the boulders as the waves gently lapped around your feet.
It was a beautiful night and it was really the spot where all the individual groups of Soul II Soulers became one as we all had these neck passes on and it was clear who was out there with us. So one minute we're all dancing there in separate groups, the next we're all one big group around the bar and dance floor. The all-inclusive bar (which we had day, night and at the events on the holiday) definitely played a part in bringing down the barriers. It's bringing a smile to my face just remembering all the tunes going off and people in the group singing lyrics to each other.
Eventually, as the night drew to a close, we all found ourselves congregated on the dance floor and Trevor dropped about four or five Stevie tracks back to back and when "As" came on the place just went crazy with everyone grinding out the words, screaming them into the air. As with Rodigan's entrance and special guest spots, this was definitely one of the moments of the holiday and it was so cool to see everyone from Trevor and Jazzie to our lot and the locals all singing at each other.
The next day we awoke worse for wear but it was - for me anyway - the big one...
Norman Jay @ English Harbour
I've got to come clean, I've been listening to Norman's Giant 45 session from last night as I wrote this and there's been a number of occasions where he's said something, or played a certain track and I've just had to stop typing close my eyes... and I am back there.
The venue was called Abracadabra and has a wicked view of the harbour and a load of open space outside for people to party under the towering palm trees. We bounced off the bus ready to party. We walked in and Aitch B from Soul II Soul was dropping party tunes, the sound system was dead loud and about 700 people were bobbing around as anticipation slowly built up. As with all the nights, Jazzie was coming on the mic, hyping the crowd and educating the locals to what the whole party was about.
We'd also met up with a load of our mates off the beach. They'd been there at the Rodigan bash and had leant over my shoulder at a particularly mad part of the evening, with thick smoke filling the sky, saying "Dave, this how we get down in Antigua". Well, thanks to Jazzie douing us a favour, we were allowed to sneak a few of them in and we proceeded to show the lads "how we get down in the UK". They couldn't wipe the smiles off their faces hahahaha.
It's all a bit of a blur but Aitch B got a mad shout for his set and then Norman came on to massive shouting and screams, playing a Good Times freestyle set and everyone was properly going off. Everyone was going nuts, then... the wind picked up...and the heavens literally opened above us. Every time you see a really heavy downpour you think that's the worst downpour you've ever seen in your life - well let me set the record straight...rain like this has NEVER been seen. It was ridiculous. One minute it was dry then all of a sudden there is water everywhere you look. What happened next will stay with me to the day I die. All the 'yachty people' who were over for the Sailing Week in Antigua ran for the cover of the bar or their yachts immediately and there was a pause as the party crowd took stock of the situation, then a fresh wave of heavier rain hit - the proper heavy, heavy downpour - and everyone realised that the rain was warm, really warm. We all just looked at each other and in a split second, started jumping around going nuts. You all know what it's like at carnival if you get a shower at the right time and it goes nuts - well that was the deal here, but better. The crowd just let out a massive roar and the same way that the rain wasn't going to stop...neither were we.
For five hours, even though at one point Norman had to shift the decks to the covered bar area above, we carried on dancing as the dark sky above rinsed itself out. I've spoke to many people since the event, from Jazzie and Corinna to Norman and the people on the trip and everyone said the same thing - the downpour just added something magical to the night. I spent the last few hours stood on some outdoor podium, soaked to the skin as a thunderstorm ripped open the skies above us and every few minutes, thick bolts of tropical lightening would flash across the harbour and give the appearance of daylight. We were loving every minute of it.
Two songs that will always stick with me from that night were Days Like This and Lola's Theme. I can remember Norman playing it when I was on the podium and I was looking down on all my mates with the biggest grin I have ever had in my life. Norman dedicated it to "The scally on the podium". Shaun Escoffery's Days Like This went off as everyone out on the trip knew all the words. We sang the whole song to each other, although there was something fantastically ironic about belting out "...here comes the suuuuuu-uuuuuuu-uuu-uuuuuuuunnnnnnnnnn!" as the torrential downpour bounced fat raindrops off our upturned faces.
The night had to end and when it did, everyone was just bear-hugging each other. It had been the perfect night; everything had come together as one, the people, the music, the weather (!)... many people try to create scenes like that for pop videos but we witnessed the original... the only downer was that Norman hadn't packed Blue Pearl's "Naked in the rain".
The next night was left empty to explore the island as Giles Peterson couldn't make the trip out unfortunately, so we went up to Shirley Heights and had a load of fun with the guys who worked the jet bikes on the beach. To cut a long story short, one of the lads called "Plastic" (all the beach boys had boss names) had said to me that day (totally unprompted) he could drink 24 little bottles of Red Stripe in 30 minutes (that's roughly 12 pints). Obviously we laughed at him. So he raised the bar to 28 (there were also late reports of him saying 32 but we kept the bar at 28).
Anyway, he turned up and as agreed, we'd buy the beer and he'd drink it. We had a whip around and bought a literal crate-full of beer plus a few extras. Plastic sank the first three pretty quick and got excited. So excited he threw up. But to be fair to the lad, he came back strong and over the next eight minutes of the 30 set, managed to down nine Red Stripes. The only problem was that he'd thrown up 22 times (it was counted). After he finished the ninth he called it a day and was promptly christened "a lightweight drinker, with a heavyweight heart!" and congratulated by everyone except his mates who ripped him to bits for the rest of the week.
The next night was the only party to be held on the Jolly Beach resort where we were staying, at this little out-the-way spot in a little pagoda bar. We got there early and listened in as Jazzie sound checked with some wicked housed-up edits of Soul II Soul tracks (amazing). Then as the sun slowly dipped over the sea, we all got down to some wicked music c/o Jazzie & Aitch B. As the party was only open to the Soul II Soul crew on holiday (and obviously the lads off the beach who managed to party with us all week) it was a bit more of an intimate affair and it was a pity it ended so soon as it was great fun just dancing around the space, everyone singing to each other and having a good old laugh.
The last day started early as we were all off to the final party of the week...
Jazzie, Norman & Trevor @ Jazzie's House
As a special end to a special week, Jazzie opened up the gates to his house and we all finished off the week in style in his back garden, on the top of a hill, overlooking the unspoilt beaches below. It was a breath-taking setting for what was a truly breath-taking gesture on his (and his family's) part and no expense had been spared with proper Antiguan dishes being cooked up and everything from a free bar and masseuse, to a wacky American fire dancer on offer.
As Norman said on the Giant 45 radio show when he came back, "A lot of people went out there in little groups and came away as lifelong friends" and that is the best way to sum it up really. It evolved into something more than a Soul II Soul party out in Antigua, it felt as if it was everyone's party, we'd all helped to make it work.
We were all sat around the night before as the sun hit the horizon and we decided that Jazzie, Corinna, all the DJs and people who'd helped stage the event - the Soul II Soul Family - deserved more than just a pat on the back for their efforts. That's why we decided to do something a little more heart-felt and the best way we come up with of doing that was to get everyone to write messages in a little Thank You book. So I'd spent the day of Jazzie's party and most of the early evening running around hassling everyone to sign the book. We'd also had a whip around and bought a load of champagne so we could toast the best holiday we'd all ever had.
The only problem was that I ended up having to present it and as I'd sounded out Jazzie about doing a quick little presentation, he'd said go on just before he played the final set of the evening. So as the sun faded and Norman was dropping classic Good Times tunes, I was sinking red wine by the glass-load trying to pluck up some courage. Trust Norman to mess up my plans as just as I was composed and ready to go up on the mic, he played Days Like This as an extra last track. The place went off. Again. I eventually got on the mic (I hate doing all that) and just passed on how much the holiday had meant to the people who'd come out. Everyone was cheering, I felt dead embarrassed but it was good to give a little back to Jazzie and the crew for all their efforts.
Anyway, Jazzie played on and introduced Rose Windross, who sang a few of the Soul II Soul classics, and it wrapped everything up perfectly. And at the end of the festivities, Jazzie lit everyone up by stating that the Antiguan government had been at all the parties and given a massive thumbs-up to next year's event! When we got back, the following hours were spent caning the all-inclusive bar at the hotel, chewing the fat over the week's events and ended up with me on a sun lounger looking out at the incoming tide for two hours in the dark. Considering the hedonism of the previous week it was the best way to chill and I just sat there laughing to myself about all the scrapes that we got up to. Especially the ones I'm not mentioning in this report.
The last day was a real drain as the threat of having to go home hung over us all but I still managed a last go on the jet-bikes and then we were off to the airport. The ride home was bumpy to say the least and we arrived at Gatwick in shorts and sandals, the worse for wear. We all hugged each other at the airport and although hardly any of us had slept, everyone still had a cheeky little smile on their face.
Dave Lennon
Official Jet Bike Jumping Champion,
Back II Life Antigua 2004
