July 22, 2024 • 10 mins
Buju Banton delivered an exciting return to the U.S. in New York City, kicking off his Long Walk to Freedom Tour in the U.S. I'm sharing my concert experience from securing those coveted tickets to soaking in the lively pre-show vibes at UBS Arena's unique beer garden, this episode captures every exciting detail. Discover how Buju's powerful performance had us all on our feet despite a few technical hiccups, proving why he remains an indomitable force in reggae music.
Whether you're a die-hard Buju fan or just discovering his magic, this episode offers a recount of an unforgettable night filled with reggae classic, stage presence, community spirit, and pure musical joy. Tune in and feel the energy of Buju's long-awaited return!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Hello everyone and welcome to another edition of
the Style and Vibes podcast withyours truly.
If you are new here, welcome tothe family.
If you are returning, welcomeback family.
And you guys know I have beenoutside on a cake with all of
the concerts that are happeninghere in New York City.
I shared a reel not too longago.
(00:24):
If you're following me onInstagram, there are so many
different concerts that arehappening.
I shared one earlier and I'mback with another one Today.
We are talking aboutBujabantan's Long Walk to
Freedom Tour that really kickedoff here in the States with
their New York show.
So by now, you may or may nothave known Boudia was not able
(00:48):
to travel here for about 15years, so this is his first time
being back here on US soil.
If you follow him and hiscareer, you saw that he was able
to get back his visa so that hecould perform.
So that left fans reallyexcited to see what he was going
to do first.
And he made his first stop, newYork, and he did two shows back
(01:12):
to back at the UBS Arena inLong Island.
So I was able to grab a fewtickets for my family and myself
to do the second show.
So the first show there was awhole lot of drama in terms of
just being able to get tickets.
However, they added a show thesame day and I was able to get
(01:32):
the Sunday show, so he did twoshows back to back and I'm sure
both shows were really great.
So, of course, because I sawthe second day, I had to ignore
everything that I saw onlinefrom the day before, so that I
was pleasantly surprised at theexperience that I got.
And if you know that, buja alsodid his long walk to freedom
(01:56):
tour in the Caribbean, so ofcourse, his first stop was
Jamaica a while ago.
This is a few years ago now,and so to see him here in the
states was really exciting.
The last time that I had seenbuju was probably when he
performed at madison squaregarden in the theater um, and
that was years ago.
(02:16):
I don't want to age myself, butthat was a very long time ago.
But he did not disappoint inthis show.
But you know who did disappointthat.
The song people then butcheredwas great.
The show was amazing, but hecould not interact with the
audience as much as he wanted.
He is definitely the ultimateperformer because he powered
(02:37):
through, but his microphone justkept getting um feedback and so
he couldn't come to the end ofthe stage.
He couldn't sit there.
You could tell he wanted to andhe wanted to interact with his
fans a little bit more.
So I think that's what wouldgive the show a little bit of a
like a notch off of the A-plusperformance.
(03:00):
What we did get is really thesound, people, them.
So I want to take a step backand kind of rewind.
I didn't get to tell you guysabout the venue.
So UBS Arena is located on theQueens Long Island border, so
I'm really glad they didn't doit in Barclays, because you guys
know I hate the sound in there.
It's horrible.
(03:21):
And the venue had a garden likea beer garden, so everyone was
able to kind of come out earlyand kind of chill.
They had a dj out there.
They had someone askingquestions about budja, their
favorite songs, his career.
They were able to grab a drinkbefore the doors open and and
play domino.
I saw people playing ludy.
(03:42):
It was like a nice little vibepre-concert vibe, um that they
were able to do in that spaceand that is really unique to the
venue.
Um, so I really loved um theubs arena.
I had been there once beforefor an r&b only event um, but I
hadn't been to the beer garden.
It was colder um during thetime that I had been there, so
(04:05):
this one was really nice to kindof see, like what they had
there.
So I'm sure that that one it'sa great venue to kind of go to
and kind of experience a littleearly.
So I do highly recommend if youhave any concerts going into
that venue, you shoulddefinitely take advantage.
And to be honest, I was reallysurprised at the sound because I
(04:26):
had previously been there and Iheard the sound and it sounded
pretty good.
But it wasn't for a performance, it was just DJs kind of
playing.
And when the opener who was?
I think it was Bobby Condorsand Jabba.
I think Bobby Condors wasmixing the music and you guys
know Jabba is the mics man.
So we didn't hear any of thatfeedback or anything like that.
(04:47):
But of course, once you startto incorporate instruments and
bands and the different sounds,um, from the microphones, the
backup singers, is a bit of adifferent transition.
If you.
I don't want to go into likeall the engineering
terminologies, but it was justhis mic in particular, like at
times you couldn't hear him orthe band and the music and the
(05:12):
singer, the backup singers, werea little bit louder than he was
at points in his performance.
So how did he start the set?
And to be completelytransparent again, I only went
one day, not both days.
On the day that I went hestarted off with a very high
energy dance all set.
He kind of like rinsed througha whole bunch of songs in his
(05:33):
catalog.
I was just like wait a minute,he's going too fast.
Why is he doing all of thesesongs?
What is he gonna perform later?
But you know, butch is one ofthose artists that have so many
songs in his catalog that hekind of had to rinse through a
lot of those hits really early.
And I think it was a gooddecision because we were kind of
had to rinse through a lot ofthose hits really early.
And I think it was a gooddecision because we were kind of
(05:53):
high off the energy of theearly warm set from Bobby
Condor's and Jabba and of coursepeople really want to get
moving.
And then he kind of slowedthings down and I really did
enjoy that.
He could kind of take it up alevel and then bring it back
down and then take it up a leveland then bring it back down and
then take it up a level andthen bring it back down, and he
did that, I think, about twice,and then he kind of ended.
(06:16):
It was his birthday.
So his family, his sister,who's his backup singer, who I
did not know he kind ofintroduced her towards the end
when he was introducing his band.
They got him a cake and youknow know the crowd saying happy
birthday to him.
What I did see online from theshow the day before was Nadine
Sutherland was a special guestthere and like Nadine is that
(06:41):
goody.
Like she looked good and shewas there dancing.
Like Nadine Sutherland has somuch energy and she brought it
to the stage.
If you don't know the storybetween the song that she had
and Wiki Diki, it's like shedidn't even know that she had
the song with him.
It's really interesting.
I got to see if I can find thestory behind how that song with
(07:02):
Buju came about with her.
So it was nice to see themperform that together online
anyway.
So we didn't get that asspecial guests, but we did get a
special guest Remy came tosupport, which is very
unexpected, very different, verymuch a surprise that the crowd
really enjoyed Fat Joe.
You guys know how much he lovesdancehall music.
(07:24):
He did Lean Back as a kind of ahomage to Jamaican dancehall,
so he performed that and him andRemy Ma actually did another
song together.
So it was a nice energy, nicevibe that he brought.
But really going back to Bujaand his catalog, I think what I
enjoyed most was the slowermoments when he did like untold
(07:47):
stories and hills and valleys,because you could really hear
the emotional connection that hehas to his songs and it felt
very spiritual.
So it was really fun.
We had an amazing time reallyjust experiencing Buja in this
manner.
And right after that heannounced his US tour, if you
(08:08):
will.
So he's coming to a good numberof major cities, so I highly
recommend that you go.
He is definitely one of thegreat performers that we have
still, representing reggae anddancehall and that bridge of the
two genres, and doing it reallywell.
His Toshai Lil Band is amazing,so they sounded really good.
(08:32):
Of course, he is such a greatperformer interacting with the
audience and just getting thecrowd going.
And then his catalog like youhave a connection.
You can visualize and picturewhere you were when you heard
these songs and it brings up somuch nostalgia.
He probably performed songsthat you might have forgotten
(08:53):
about, but he still got it, youknow.
So you got to see the greatswhile they are here.
So I highly encourage you guysto go see it, enjoy it if you
can, but for me, that's it.
I just wanted to share myexperience with you here.
If you went, let me know, sendme a note in the comment section
(09:14):
, send me a DM on Instagram.
Would love to hear yourthoughts as well.
So until next time, leah to mypeeps.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Thanks for listening to the latest episode of the
Style and Vibes podcast.
If you like what you hear and Iknow you do share it with your
friends and family.
If you want more, make sure youvisit style stylingvibescom and
follow us on our socialchannels, twitter and Instagram.
At stylingvibes.
Until next time, lea tummypeeps.
Hello everyone and welcome to another edition of
the Style and Vibes podcast withyours truly.
If you are new here, welcome tothe family.
If you are returning, welcomeback family.
And you guys know I have beenoutside on a cake with all of
the concerts that are happeninghere in New York City.
I shared a reel not too longago.
(00:24):
If you're following me onInstagram, there are so many
different concerts that arehappening.
I shared one earlier and I'mback with another one Today.
We are talking aboutBujabantan's Long Walk to
Freedom Tour that really kickedoff here in the States with
their New York show.
So by now, you may or may nothave known Boudia was not able
(00:48):
to travel here for about 15years, so this is his first time
being back here on US soil.
If you follow him and hiscareer, you saw that he was able
to get back his visa so that hecould perform.
So that left fans reallyexcited to see what he was going
to do first.
And he made his first stop, newYork, and he did two shows back
(01:12):
to back at the UBS Arena inLong Island.
So I was able to grab a fewtickets for my family and myself
to do the second show.
So the first show there was awhole lot of drama in terms of
just being able to get tickets.
However, they added a show thesame day and I was able to get
(01:32):
the Sunday show, so he did twoshows back to back and I'm sure
both shows were really great.
So, of course, because I sawthe second day, I had to ignore
everything that I saw onlinefrom the day before, so that I
was pleasantly surprised at theexperience that I got.
And if you know that, buja alsodid his long walk to freedom
(01:56):
tour in the Caribbean, so ofcourse, his first stop was
Jamaica a while ago.
This is a few years ago now,and so to see him here in the
states was really exciting.
The last time that I had seenbuju was probably when he
performed at madison squaregarden in the theater um, and
that was years ago.
(02:16):
I don't want to age myself, butthat was a very long time ago.
But he did not disappoint inthis show.
But you know who did disappointthat.
The song people then butcheredwas great.
The show was amazing, but hecould not interact with the
audience as much as he wanted.
He is definitely the ultimateperformer because he powered
(02:37):
through, but his microphone justkept getting um feedback and so
he couldn't come to the end ofthe stage.
He couldn't sit there.
You could tell he wanted to andhe wanted to interact with his
fans a little bit more.
So I think that's what wouldgive the show a little bit of a
like a notch off of the A-plusperformance.
(03:00):
What we did get is really thesound, people, them.
So I want to take a step backand kind of rewind.
I didn't get to tell you guysabout the venue.
So UBS Arena is located on theQueens Long Island border, so
I'm really glad they didn't doit in Barclays, because you guys
know I hate the sound in there.
It's horrible.
(03:21):
And the venue had a garden likea beer garden, so everyone was
able to kind of come out earlyand kind of chill.
They had a dj out there.
They had someone askingquestions about budja, their
favorite songs, his career.
They were able to grab a drinkbefore the doors open and and
play domino.
I saw people playing ludy.
(03:42):
It was like a nice little vibepre-concert vibe, um that they
were able to do in that spaceand that is really unique to the
venue.
Um, so I really loved um theubs arena.
I had been there once beforefor an r&b only event um, but I
hadn't been to the beer garden.
It was colder um during thetime that I had been there, so
(04:05):
this one was really nice to kindof see, like what they had
there.
So I'm sure that that one it'sa great venue to kind of go to
and kind of experience a littleearly.
So I do highly recommend if youhave any concerts going into
that venue, you shoulddefinitely take advantage.
And to be honest, I was reallysurprised at the sound because I
(04:26):
had previously been there and Iheard the sound and it sounded
pretty good.
But it wasn't for a performance, it was just DJs kind of
playing.
And when the opener who was?
I think it was Bobby Condorsand Jabba.
I think Bobby Condors wasmixing the music and you guys
know Jabba is the mics man.
So we didn't hear any of thatfeedback or anything like that.
(04:47):
But of course, once you startto incorporate instruments and
bands and the different sounds,um, from the microphones, the
backup singers, is a bit of adifferent transition.
If you.
I don't want to go into likeall the engineering
terminologies, but it was justhis mic in particular, like at
times you couldn't hear him orthe band and the music and the
(05:12):
singer, the backup singers, werea little bit louder than he was
at points in his performance.
So how did he start the set?
And to be completelytransparent again, I only went
one day, not both days.
On the day that I went hestarted off with a very high
energy dance all set.
He kind of like rinsed througha whole bunch of songs in his
(05:33):
catalog.
I was just like wait a minute,he's going too fast.
Why is he doing all of thesesongs?
What is he gonna perform later?
But you know, butch is one ofthose artists that have so many
songs in his catalog that hekind of had to rinse through a
lot of those hits really early.
And I think it was a gooddecision because we were kind of
had to rinse through a lot ofthose hits really early.
And I think it was a gooddecision because we were kind of
(05:53):
high off the energy of theearly warm set from Bobby
Condor's and Jabba and of coursepeople really want to get
moving.
And then he kind of slowedthings down and I really did
enjoy that.
He could kind of take it up alevel and then bring it back
down and then take it up a leveland then bring it back down and
then take it up a level andthen bring it back down, and he
did that, I think, about twice,and then he kind of ended.
(06:16):
It was his birthday.
So his family, his sister,who's his backup singer, who I
did not know he kind ofintroduced her towards the end
when he was introducing his band.
They got him a cake and youknow know the crowd saying happy
birthday to him.
What I did see online from theshow the day before was Nadine
Sutherland was a special guestthere and like Nadine is that
(06:41):
goody.
Like she looked good and shewas there dancing.
Like Nadine Sutherland has somuch energy and she brought it
to the stage.
If you don't know the storybetween the song that she had
and Wiki Diki, it's like shedidn't even know that she had
the song with him.
It's really interesting.
I got to see if I can find thestory behind how that song with
(07:02):
Buju came about with her.
So it was nice to see themperform that together online
anyway.
So we didn't get that asspecial guests, but we did get a
special guest Remy came tosupport, which is very
unexpected, very different, verymuch a surprise that the crowd
really enjoyed Fat Joe.
You guys know how much he lovesdancehall music.
(07:24):
He did Lean Back as a kind of ahomage to Jamaican dancehall,
so he performed that and him andRemy Ma actually did another
song together.
So it was a nice energy, nicevibe that he brought.
But really going back to Bujaand his catalog, I think what I
enjoyed most was the slowermoments when he did like untold
(07:47):
stories and hills and valleys,because you could really hear
the emotional connection that hehas to his songs and it felt
very spiritual.
So it was really fun.
We had an amazing time reallyjust experiencing Buja in this
manner.
And right after that heannounced his US tour, if you
(08:08):
will.
So he's coming to a good numberof major cities, so I highly
recommend that you go.
He is definitely one of thegreat performers that we have
still, representing reggae anddancehall and that bridge of the
two genres, and doing it reallywell.
His Toshai Lil Band is amazing,so they sounded really good.
(08:32):
Of course, he is such a greatperformer interacting with the
audience and just getting thecrowd going.
And then his catalog like youhave a connection.
You can visualize and picturewhere you were when you heard
these songs and it brings up somuch nostalgia.
He probably performed songsthat you might have forgotten
(08:53):
about, but he still got it, youknow.
So you got to see the greatswhile they are here.
So I highly encourage you guysto go see it, enjoy it if you
can, but for me, that's it.
I just wanted to share myexperience with you here.
If you went, let me know, sendme a note in the comment section
(09:14):
, send me a DM on Instagram.
Would love to hear yourthoughts as well.
So until next time, leah to mypeeps.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Thanks for listening to the latest episode of the
Style and Vibes podcast.
If you like what you hear and Iknow you do share it with your
friends and family.
If you want more, make sure youvisit style stylingvibescom and
follow us on our socialchannels, twitter and Instagram.
At stylingvibes.
Until next time, lea tummypeeps.
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