Errol Dunkley writes Belgian reggae history in Merksem!

We enter the room around half past nine. Zaal Bart turns out to be a cosy old-fashioned kind of parish party hall where time seems to have stood still and where organiser Mike 'Mikey G' De Herdt (ex-Reggae.be, now Music Got Soul), as we learnt from the man himself, celebrated his solemn communion. With a selection of lovely rocksteady hits Puppa Mighty's Super Power makes an appreciated effort to warm up the crowd that started trickling in and an hour later the room had filled to the point Asham Band could start.

The band kicks off with a short instrumental, after which MC King Johnny, in local Antwerp patois (let's hope that doesn't spark trouble, after the fiercely criticised performance of Natalia at the MIA's!), warms us up for this evening's headliner: Errol Dunkley!

Nicely suited up, the crooner walks on stage to the tunes of 'Movie Star', one of his biggest hits and a song he produced himself when he was running the African Museum label together with Gregory Isaacs. Dunkley continues with 'Darling Ooh' and 'Created By The Father', but the roof doesn't come off until 'Black Cinderella'.

After two more lovers rock-tinted songs ('You Never Know' and 'You're Gonna Need Me') Errol takes a bit of time to honour some of our and his late reggae heroes. The acapella moment, in which we heard Dennis Brown ('Lips Of Wine'), Delroy Wilson ('Dancing Mood'), Gregory Isaacs ('Front Door') and Sugar Minnot ('Oh Mr. D.C.'), could have been shorter, but considering the fact some of them had probably been personal friends of Dunkley, you could only consider it a nice gesture.

After a little over an hour Errol Dunkley finishes with what is probably his biggest hit: 'O.K. Fred'. The Belgian crowd seemly hasn't gotten enough, so the bard returns to the stage once more for 'Love Of A Woman' and 'Strictly Sensemilla', two lesser known tunes on classical Studio One Riddims (Real Rock and Full Up) to conclude a relished set.

We did not stay for Pirates Crew, but they undoubtedly still threw quite a party. Those absent were proven wrong once again and should probably read the increasing amount of obituaries that we have to post on our website. It's now or never, guys… More of this Mike!