They came and rocked the capital in the name of peace and unity. From the hinterland to coastal villages and neighbouring towns, thousands flocked to the Laucala stadium last night to jive to the message of South African reggae star Lucky Dube. His hit song Different Colours, One People empowered the fans – crossing all ages and walks of life – and gave them an essence of unity.
Lucky preached love and reconciliation in his songs and his 13-member troupe whipped the crowd into a frenzy with their hypnotic one-drop reggae beat. “The problems here in Fiji are nothing compared to what we faced in South Africa. And if we can find peace and unity there, I don’t see any reason why you can’t find it here.
“I don’t understand politics but I encourage people in my messages,” said Lucky, named so by his mother after pleading with God to give her a child. He urged his fans to stay away from drugs, saying reggae was not to be associated with ganja.
“I don’t smoke but I use reggae to get my message across. That is my view of reggae,” he said, adding that the dead reggae king, Bob Marley, and Wailers’ Peter Tosh had their reasons for encouraging the use of cannabis in their lyrics.Lucky, before the sellout concert, said one of his greatest fears was to see any of his five children follow him into show business.
“My children play around with the piano at home but I don’t encourage them because I don't want them to get involved in show business. In South Africa, it is bad with most young musicians dying because of drugs. “It is sad but it is true. When they die, musicians have to fork out to pay for their funeral because they may be superstars but they don't have any money. They sold their houses and even wives and husbands for drugs and it is very bad.”
The highlight of his career was when he became the first South African artist to get recording contracts with Motown, which also recorded Michael Jackson. After last night’s concert, the band flew out to Tonga for a concert on Wednesday night before they return to Fiji on Thursday evening. Their final concert is in Lautoka on Friday .
Meanwhile, thieves raided the Fiji Broadcasting Commission office in search of tickets to the show and made off with an money from ticket sales on Sunday night.
Three men entered the office at Carnavon Street at about 7.30pm and on the pretence of buying tickets forcefully grabbed an envelope that contained $640 from the receptionist. The men were unarmed and they ran away as soon as they grabbed the envelope.
