Shaggy

Starting out with reggae beat Shaggy explosively questions “are you ready” to the audience before beginning his set. The reggae beats add a bit of funk to his Jamaican flare. His unhurried verses are backed by lilting female voices and remind me of African Savannah music as well as Caribbean party music.

His seamless blending of the styles almost as impressive as his studio quality vocals. Dancing simply around the stage he goes between softer vocals and frenzied, guttural, reggae vocals. He shouts “reggae people” to the audience over and over to get them more involved.

As they increase in volume so does he until the entire venue is filled with his noise and the noises of appreciation. Still performing “Angel” and “Mr. Boombastic” years later Shaggy moves through the songs with a smooth understanding. His throaty vocals scrape at the song and I wonder if he has always been this proficient in his live performances.

For over an hour and a half he leads us through a mix of his new songs, old songs, and improvised sounds. The only constant is his calls for “reggae people” to make more noise reminding us of his genre and his connection to the genre. Ending with “It Wasn't Me” Shaggy seems to come full circle on himself and its easy to imagine I am at a concert of his in the 90's.

Anybody alive and conscious during the late 90's/early 00's would know the mega smash hit 'It Wasn't Me'. This became Shaggy's legacy and earned him a huge reputation, away from this he has recorded an impressive 10 studio albums and has had three other major hits with his reggae fusion style.

Therefore the Jamaican/American singer of course has a huge following globally and he has learned how to really conduct a live show. He is an effortlessly cool personality and takes the cheers within his stride as he struts out to the front of the stage to bait the crowd further before his expert live band begin the introduction to 'Angel' and the show well and truly begins.

The audience bounces as one whilst Shaggy, real name Orville Richard Burrell saunters around and conducts throughout the singing of the masses. Other huge cheers for 'Boombastic' and the iconic 'It Wasn't Me' proves that Shaggy has had a lasting impact since the height of his career and nearly fifteen years later he is still able to delight audiences.

Shaggy was tremendous for the most part. He totally engaged the audience. Sometimes he acts a little too much like Pitbull with the fist pumping. Shaggy has a great voice and pairs well with an R&B crooner. Not having a band was probably one of the biggest drawbacks of the show. Shaggy's roots go back to DJ'ing do thats what he knows. The end of the show was the worst. He stopped playing his music and had his DJ play bits from pop music while Shaggy egged on the crowd to sing. People started leaving during part of the show. I ask Shaggy. "Where is your artistic integrity?" Overall, it was a good show that ended with a whimper.

Absolutely loved the concert at the O2 Academy in Edinburgh. I loved the choice of playlist, danced and sang to every single one. Felt so sorry for Shaggy who was really trying to get the crowd involved but I guess they weren't all true fans of his music and only for the festival atmosphere. I think they preferred the DJ who was on before, but I was there for Shaggy, having not seen him in concert 20 yrs!

Shaggy kept the reggae vibe on a high and was aptly supported by a great band and singer (juggles??).
He rolled out the classics and the hits with ease as well as introducing new music which was great.
The crowd were loving it and I would definitely go and see him again.

The show was fantastic. Maxi Priest could have been a little better, but Sanchez & Shaggy was on point. The floor seats didn't have much leg room. And I was disappointed that Shaggy didn't post the video from the show. But otherwise me & my Valentine had a great time

Loved seeing Shaggy. It was a dream come true.
The only things I would change are
1) He should have did an encore.
2) I didn't see any merchandise for sale.
3) The setup of the hall wasn't very good. I was in section 2 and couldn't see that well.

He was awesome! Shaggy was so much fun. If he would have partnered with Sting a long time ago, I would have been a fan of Stings. They sounded amazing together and I loved the whole reggae vibe Shaggy brought to Sting's songs.

All I can say it was FANTASTIC!!! The best concert ever I been to, love it, he was amazing simply kind of guy, down to earth. Will definitely go again and again if he comes to Vancouver, or even Seattle, best money spent.

Awesome concert. So much energy by all can't wait to see him again. Saw him in Jamaica. Each time gets better. No one left dissatisfied. Until the next time everyone. Wish he'd come to more provinces though