By VERDEL BISHOP Monday, June 1 2009

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DANCEHALL LEGENDS: Buju Banton (far right) and Shabba Ranks (above) gave overpowering performances at the I am Legend II concert at Queen's Park Savan...

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Not even a surprisingly abrupt ending in Shabba Ranks’ performance could have spoiled the vibes at the jam-packed Queen’s Park Savannah for the I Am Legend II concert on Saturday night.

The Jamaican dancehall icon conquered local fans so much so, that not even a sudden end of the show at 3.30 am could have put a damper on his performance.

Opening with, “I’m not going to a circus, I’m not going to a fair”, Shabba’s booming voice enthralled the crowd with an hour of his hits of the late 80s and early 90s.

Dressed in a black fedora, gold jacket and white trousers, Shabba rocked his fans with classics like “Wicked In Bed”, “Dem Bow” and “Gyal Yuh Good”. Without fail, Shabba continued in rare form, as promised in previous interviews, with track after track rounding off his performance with oldies like “Roots and Culture”, “Ting A-Ling”, “Twice My Age”, “Mr Loverman” and “Just Reality”.

In a surprise appearance, Denise “Saucy Wow” Belfon joined Shabba on stage for a ten-minute raunchy session to an echo of whistles.

However, nearing the close, Shabba exited the stage leaving many to wonder if it meant the end of his performance. He never came back. Meanwhile, Buju Banton dealt with violence and poverty in his preceding performance, telling patrons that gangsters have no regard for human life.

Buju asked gunmen, “Why don’t you have regards for human life?” He then asked patrons, “Why do you think we are the way we are? How is it that there are only certain people at the bottom of the economic chain?”

Not long after, Buju went into a consciousness session with classics like “Murderer”, “Too Bad”, “Destiny” and “Hills and Valleys”, even throwing in a new single from his Rasta Got Soul album.

Buju and the Shiloh band had an easy task with patrons bellowing the lyrics to a string of his blazing dancehall selections.

With little effort, Buju had the crowd singing along to tunes such as “Driver”, “Unchained Spirit”, “Not an Easy Road” and “Untold Stories”.

Earlier, at 12 am, Wayne Wonder set the pace and found himself in good standing with the crowd with many of his songs, among them “Saddest Day”, “Joy Ride” and “I Still Believe”.

The crooner sang flawlessly, enthralling his fans. Peter C Lewis and the Orchestra band kicked things off with local dancehall acts, Super Child and General Grant setting the pace for the reggae legends.