on a cool summer night. Judging from the size of the enthusiastic crowd

at Maritime Hall (at $20 a head) he is becoming quite a star. When he

said, "Al the men, jump!", they jumped.

Dancehall is reggae's answer to rap music. As Beenie Man explained it,

- "Dis is reggae. We just use more word. We young, we have energy - we

speed it up a little bit. But it's the same t'ing."

It can be difficult for American ears to understand the rapidfire

Jamaican patois lyrics, but you can usually get the sense, whether it's

playfully lewd or righteously political and spiritual. Catching every

word doesn't seem to matter to the reggae dancehall fan - it's as much

about the groove as anything.

He is known for using a wide range of music as a background for his

verbal shenanigans - even country and gospel sounds - which were

performed quite well by a tight back-up band. He's also know for

collaborating with other artists and did bring in back-up singers for a

couple of numbers. Without Lady Saw - a female vocalist who does steamy

duets with Gregory Isaacs and Beres Hammond as well - some of his more

exciting duets were left out.

But Beenie Man can hold his own. Making a dramatic entrance in a dapper

white suit with long jacket, large red hat with a hint of matching

cuffs, he proved he had a stylish sensibilty and confident sex appeal

which carried over into his performance. Running up and down the stage,

dancing and acting out the lyrics, and playful banter all demonstrated

his abundant charm.

A tremendous sense of humor and ability to move the crowd was apparent

throughout the show. He got the women in the audience to sing I don't

want know scrubs (the popular TLC song) and then asked, "what happens

when a girl do the same thing?" He came back with his version: "pigeon

can t get no love from me" (which included a description of what makes a

pigeon. She sounds pretty ugly).

He was such an entertaining personality it wasn't even annoying when he

shamelessly promoted his new CD, The Doctor (VP), by playing snippets of

songs and then announcing, - it's on The Doctor, go buy it tomorrow,

won't you please? Caught up in Beenie Man fever, I was glad I already

had my copy.