SEAN PAUL – BRIGHTON CENTRE 9.8.23
On an unremarkable Wednesday summer’s evening, the entertainment lined-up tonight at the Brighton Centre was anything but so. Jamaican Grammy award-winning international hitmaker, superstar collaborator and all-round rap, reggae and dancehall powerhouse Sean Paul was in da house. Having sold around 28 million records, released eight studio albums and had multiple number one sellers across both sides of the Atlantic, the growing excitement in the venue was perceptible.
Brighton was chosen as a city the artist specifically wanted to play having been omitted from his eight-date ‘Scorcha’ tour last summer and he arrived having played a number of transatlantic shows this year including some big festivals.
To get the evening underway, the crowd was well and truly warmed-up by DJs Mike Pantelli of Capital Xtra fame, Mista Bibs, Ricky T and Jack Smith with an eclectic selection of danceworthy favourites, perfect party starters ramped up by an MC.
At 9.12 exactly it was time to let the main man strut his stuff as Sean Paul, initially wearing a bright pink jacket and green shorts, entered the stage to rapturous cheers and applause with a supporting cast of eight people. This included two female dancers dressed in lime green who remained on-stage for the entire set and didn’t stop their animated choreographed dancing for almost 90 minutes – these two must be super-fit!
For the next hour and a half, we were treated to an intoxicating high-tempo musical extravaganza from Sean and his gang. Having hit the big half-century in January, Sean Paul’s stage energy is both infectious and absolutely relentless, he barely stops to take a breath, the set seemingly divided up into sections with a very brief interlude between each one, many songs segueing into one another, some played in full, others just a verse or a chorus.
Sean Paul has collaborated with so many top artists, it reads like a ‘who’s who’ of music and celebrity royalty, Dua Lipa, Sia, Idris Elba, Clean Bandit, David Guetta/Becky G and many more. Of course, none were present this evening so in addition to his band filling in their parts, the crowd did their bit too, joining in with almost every song. To this end we had cracking renditions of crowd-pleasers like ‘No Lie’, ‘Cheap Thrills’, ‘Boasty’, ‘Rock-a-Bye’ and ‘Mad Love’.
Each number was greeted with alacrity, the biggest audible cheers of the evening were reserved for his early 2003 hits ‘Baby Boy’ originally performed with Beyonce which was a number one in the United States and the chorus of his 2003 UK number one hit ‘Breathe’ which he performed originally with US R&B singer Blu Cantrell. They were definitely stand out moments for me, along with the full version of 2005 release ‘We Be Burnin’.
Throughout the set, tee shirts were sporadically hurled into the audience by the singer and were aimed mainly at “mi ladies” for which there was a great clamour each time. Smoke cannons fired at regular intervals during the songs adding to the spectacle.
As the set drew to a close, there was no encore as such, the final section was rounded off with dynamic full versions of his solo hits 2012 release ‘She Doesn’t Mind’ and 2005 US number one hit ‘Temperature’ ending with bursts of smoke and the firing of a confetti cannon over the crowd. With seemingly plenty of stamina left, Sean and his entourage headed off across the road to Shooshh for the official afterparty that continued until 4 a.m.
This was a cracking show from a man who has spent over two decades at the top of his game. For the packed masses of mainly twenty and thirty somethings who came to dance and party in Brighton tonight, Sean Paul brought the sunshine inside to deliver a huge dose of mood-boosting dopamine.
BONUS PHOTOS:
This was a phenomenal night.
There were plenty of fans over the age of 20 and 30, myself included!
Fantastic that the genre is appreciated by such a demographic spectrum.
One of the best gigs I’ve been to and my friends and I danced and sang our way from start to finish.
Energetic, powerful and fantastically uplifting.
I went with my daughter Larna she’s 32 and I’m Christine 66 its one of the best concerts we’ve been to it was a huge party beginning to end had such a brilliant night