Well… what can one say? I can remember seeing Donnel Jones perform at the Michael Sobell Centre in 1995 on an exceptionally cold new years eve. Donnel was relatively new to the scene then on his 1st album if I recall correctly. Almost 9 years later and a string of single hits and misses I was presented with the opportunity to see him once again. I remember being bitterly disappointed at the end of that night mainly due to reasons such as the poor choice of venue and the ridiculous farce of the afterparty! I did, however, remember being impressed by the actual performance. 9 years on the same feeling at the end of a Donnel Jones performance night. Same feeling different factors! This time no fault could be directed towards the venue as Hammersmith Palais was filled to the brim with couples, groups of girls and groups of guys.

The night was hosted by 90%’s Mr Shuges, who did a great job keeping the crowd entertained. The UK support on the night was by some of the UK’s finest including Street Politicks. At around 10.30 the person that every came to see had come to see presented himself in true superstar fashion with his voice first followed by lights, camera, and then his presence!

Donnel Jones came on to a great reception from the crowd and started off really well, wooing the crowd with hits such as ‘yearning’ and ‘in the hood’. Then after approximately 20 MINUTES after his first note and in mid- flow, we were greeted by “well that’s all from me ladies and gents, I’m outta here. Goodnight’ and he promptly put the mic down on the stage and walked off! The crowd as you could imagine was in shock and confusion as they refused to accept that the night had ended and wondered whether this was part of the act. The crowd was in denial as most believed it was part of his act. A few minutes passed in which seemed like hours as the crowd were left in darkness and silence, wondering what was going on?

It took the brave Mr Shuges to come out and explain to the crowd that Mr Jones had ‘lost his voice’. This immediately led to a ring of boo’s from the crowd and was not talking the kind that was associated with miss dynamite hit either! But just as Shuges was trying to calm them down a voice was heard. It was Donnel who had returned to the stage shouting out “Yo, yo! What y’all trippin for? Y’all know I weren’t gonna go out like that!” the crowd including myself thought this was part of the act for real and that he was coming back to finish off his performance. Well we couldn’t have been more wrong as no sooner had he sang an acappela which lasted no longer than a further 4 minutes he was gone again! The crowd had had enough and let there frustration and anger be known vocally!

The only compensation was the excellent after party at Rouge in which Central Sundays is hosted. Central Sundays is on every Sunday at Rouge. Check the UK Events section on PromotionCity.co.uk for more details!

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