Dateline: 29/11/2008 Venue: Milan. Italy.

We are off to bring some Aba Shanti-I vitality to Italy, Milan to be precise.

We had an early morning flight (08:15) from Stansted which meant neither Aba or I had any sleep the night before.

I left my home at 03:45 to drive across London to pick up Aba for 05:00 so we could get to Stansted for 06:15 which was our checking in time.We were booked on 'Rancher's Air' and so we were not looking forward to the flight.

The journey did not get off to a great start. I in my infinite wisdom decided to take the fast (sic) route across London by using the 'Blackwall Tunnel'. Well it took 20 minutes to get to the tunnel and just as I entered the tunnel, the free flowing traffic stopped being free flowing and ground to a halt. It seems that a car had crashed in the tunnel just before I entered. I was stuck in a jam for over 90 minutes and eventually had to reverse out of the tunnel (under the supervision of the local constabulary) and join the gridlock the accident had caused in the area. So my time schedule had been blown out of the water. I didn't reach Aba until 05:50 and the subsequent car journey to Stansted was quite high speed (but within the legal limit). We reached Stansted at 06:45 and this gave us only 25 minutes to clear check in. It was a good job I had booked parking directly adjacent to the terminal. More expensive (much more), but in this case a flight saver.
When we enter the terminal and made our way to the check in area a shock greeted us. There was no long winding queues!
'Rancher's had gone over to auto check in and so we were able to check in and drop off our bags, (thanks to the check in lady who assisted when we had to redistribute the contents of our baggage to be within limits, and not get charge £36 extra).

At the departure gate we bucked on Mad Prof and Dennis Bovell who were catching the same flight. They had a session in Genoa.
A quick 'Wha gwan' and the flight was called. I smiled as I realised that they had no clue who I was. They recognised Aba but not me.

The flight to Milan was uneventful but the landing, my Lord the landing. No we didn't crash as I would not be writing this report now! The pilot landed the plane as if landing on a pillow. I will repeat, as if landing on a pillow, it was so soft. I can assure you that the pilot will not be working for 'Rancher's' much longer, he was too good.

11:50 We were met at the airport by Dreadlion and Miky Gadd and driven the short distance to Dreadlion's home to get a hot drink and to chill before going to the restaurant for something to eat, which was booked for 13:00.

We had a nice meal and were taken to the hotel to get some sleep and to prepared for the night's work.

19:00 We were picked up by two members of the 'DreadLion' crew and driven to the venue which was about 30 minutes away.

The venue was a nightclub on the outskirts of Milan in an industrial area in an area where there were two other large clubs. As we walked in I was taken back to the funky discos clubs of the late 70's and 80's. Don't get me wrong the club was nicely decked out.
It had a raised seated area with round tables and chairs and stools. A bar which was a converted sea container on the long side and a dance area which went right up to the stage. Dreadlion had set up the control tower for the sound on the floor not the stage, just after the bar. The speakers were set up directly opposite the control tower on the other long side. It was a nice club and we were going to treat it to a righteous session.
The sound check well very well and the sound from the wall of speakers was well nice.

20:30 Sound check over we left the club to go and get our evening meal. We were joined by the Moa Ambessa crew from Venice and so in all about 15 people were seated partaking of the nourishment being provided. Nuff chat and ting during the meal.

22:00 After being well fed and with our thirst quenched, it was time to go back and start the evenings entertainment.

22:30 On arrival back at the venue people were waiting to enter the club. Dreadlion went and kicked off the night as Aba and I went backstage for a prearranged interview. I personally don't like giving interviews, because some interviewers ask the most vexing questions which have no place being asked, just to get a reaction. Me, I take umbrage to questions of that kind and end up basically giving a sermon with a dead pan face and a thousand yard stare to the interviewer. I am not agressive, but I am emphatic. Just so there is no misunderstanding! This always make Blood and Aba laugh when this happens for they see how the questioner start to get a little uneasy,worried or just plain frightened. Like the opposite of the 'Medusa Stare' it will turn them to jelly!

So you can see from the above that this interview was going along them ways and I had to redress and refocus the interviwer on just what we were there to be interviewed about, MUSIC! Not politics or to redefine the philosophy of Rastafari and be dragged into the mire with whatever agenda the interviewer was on.

We defend the rights of those that have no one to defend them by being messengers of the Father. Articulating through words, music and deeds, that righteousness is the only way.............Jah is for EVERYONE!............Nuff Said!

01:00 Aba comes out to starts his set and the place is heaving with people. The place was hot and as the session went on it got hotter.
Aba at one point had the crowd singing accapella, it was wicked.

The place was so hot that one of the amps started misbehaving and shutting off. Dreadlion went and got a large fan to blow cool air on the amp stack, but it still kept tripping. This did not dent the vibe one bit. I am not even sure that the patrons realised that one set of the bass boxes was playing intermittenly.

03:00 Session is still running and the place is still packed.

03:30 The security come to me and ask how much longer is it going on for, as the venue should have shut at 03:00.

04:00 Well the crowd wouldn't let Aba stop and we had to turn the lights on to try and get the people to leave. But they still stayed.

04:20 The management eventually called a halt to the session and they still demanded more.

Dreadlion told me that has never happened before as people normally leave about 02:30.

As people were leaving, albeit very slowly they wanted photos, autographs and just to thank us for the wonderful session.

Well Jahgment came over to Aba and thanked him for playing his tune with such intesity and it how was very emotional for him to hear Aba play it and to see the crowd's reaction.

So to all the patrons in the place, Miky Gadd, Dreadlion and crew, Well Jahgment & The Moa Ambessa crew, Suraj (cd is on its way) and especially the management, who let us play way beyond the deadline...............Jah Love.

30/11/08 18:00 When we got to the airport and arrived at the gate, we bucked up on Mad Prof and Dennis again. We exchanged pleasantries and chatted until we had to board the plane. When we got back to Stansted and after we had collected our bags and were just about to leave the airport, Mad P asked Aba if I was his young apprentice soundman, who Aba was teaching. I smiled and looked at Mad P and said "You don't remember me do you Neil"? As he looked at me rather puzzled, I then said "100 Million Tons Of Dub". He then said straight away "Mick, On-U Mick" I walked away smiling as he rushed over to Dennis who was on the other side of the baggage carousel to tell him who I was. I looked back to see them both looking agog as they watched me walk away. It seems that time has been kind to me over the years. Young apprentice indeed, Chaa!

We arrived at the venue which was a community centre, just after Stef. His crew was loading in the system as we parked up.

We were taken back stage and put our stuff down in the dressing room. The conversation continued as we relaxed. Ras Pepa and I discussed electronics and sound recording with input from Aba and Kenny.

Stef and his crew ensured the system was set up and operational and then we did the sound check. Every ting nice.

We then had our meal with the whole of the crew and then retired to the back stage area to chill out.

Stef started the session at 20:00 and let me tell you people, the sound was awesome. Strictly seismic, earth moving shock, but above all with serious sound quality. We could tell the sound quality even though we were backstage. In the words of Aba Shanti-I,
"It's chopping", this made Ras Pepa smile.

Stef handed over to Aba at 23:00 and the vibe continued.

The session was rather strange and got stranger as the night progressed, let me explain. There was a significant crowd, but most of them at various periods during the session were not in the dance hall. They spent large periods of time outside chatting and smoking because the music was sounding just as sweet outside as it did inside. This courtesy of the smoking ban which is evident across Europe and which was being rigidly enforced in this venue. So the vibe was a little odd! Nice, but odd.

Well the session was a success and the promoter was happy and so were the patrons even though they had spent a large amount of it outside.

So to the people of Toulon and surrounding area, One Love and hope to see you again in the near future.

Just a point about when we were about to catch the plane home. The weather was so rough. High wind and torrential rain that the flight was delayed by an hour until the storm had passed. When we were ready to board the plane the rain was still lashing down and the wind was so strong that as we ran for the plane the wind blew Kenny over! He was soaked through as he took his seat on the plane.

Well we were booked on the 13:25 EZjet flight from Gatwick, which was good start. We cannot stand that cattle truck of the air that dares to call itself and airline. You might have gathered this from previous reports. Aba had to make his way over to my place so we could catch the train to the airport. I expected Aba at 10:30 but he arrived at 09:30. Tings getting even better.
We had time to sit down and hold a hot beverage, have a chat about the upcoming sessions and generally get all those little things sorted that even though we are working together just slip through the net, Yuh no see it!

Well time came to depart to the airport and as we boarded the train I said to Aba that Kenny Knot was on our ticket, but I have not heard from him and I hoped that he had a copy of the flight details.

We arrived at Gatwick and made our way to the checking desk area. The flight was not showing on any of the desks, but it was still 15 minutes before the scheduled booking in time, so no worries.
One of the EZjet staff came over to us as we stood waiting for the desk to be allocated and asked what flight we were on. We told him and then he said something that was music to our ears. "You don't have to wait for a checking desk as you can check in at any of the desks". Aba and I looked at each other and smiled. Tings getting well nice. We made our way to one of the empty check in desks and checked in. Kenny was no where to be seen. But Aba said he was bound to have the flight details as he was also a long time bredrins of Steflion.

After checking in we went through security and apart from a little niggle from the security people wanting Aba to remove his Tam (hat) that was quickly cleared up, everything was nice.
One point there though, a Tam is used to cover the locks of a Rasta man just in the same way a Sikh has a turban to cover his hair. Both have a religious law that states that they should not cut their hair, but airport dockside / Euro Star security don't ask Sikhs to remove their turbans, but want Rasta man to remove their Tams. Anyone see the injustice here. This is not direct at Sikhs, but it is directed at the security establishment who do not or fail to recognise the faith of Rastafari as a religion.

Well we went and had a breakfast and then made our way to the boarding gate. As we approached the gate we saw Kenny and Ras Pepa sitting down waiting for the flight to be called.
Nuff greetings and tings ah gwan as we took seats beside them.
Ras Pepa looked well upset and on asking what the problem was he explained that the security had taken his tools of him and they had even taken the bottle of 'Encona' hot pepper we was bringing for Stef.
Dear reader I can confirm Stef's love of the fiery liquid on his food. I cooked up an ital for him when he stayed by me and I used fresh chillies in the food to give it a bit of a zing. You know them small powerful ones dem? Stef took a mouthful and then asked if I had any hot pepper. I have only come across a few people in my lifetime to date, that add hot pepper to already peppered food. My mum used to do it, my son does it and Stef.
"Tools"? I asked Ras Pepa, "What do you mean by Tools"?
He explained that he was bringing out a new sound effects unit to Stef and he had a tool pouch that consisted of, are you ready for this, pliers, cutters, wire, screwdrivers, batteries, soldering iron and some solder!
I looked at him in disbelief. "How did you expect to get through security with all that in these troubled times of terrorism and ting." I asked. It's a wonder they didn't call for the armed guards and had him carried away to be locked up.
We then spent the time until the plane boarding going through the various scenarios of what could have happened to Ras Pepa. Guantanamo Bay. Covert NSA flights to secure facilities. Locked up for 42 days without trial and no one knowing where he was. Cavity searches and the worst case, Ras Pepa, peppered with high calibre bullets. Voicing these scenarios kept us amused and helped to alleviate the anger and frustration that Ras Pepa was feeling over his confiscated tools.
It would not have been 'Sonny's Letter' by LKJ, but 'Pepa's Letter' by Aba Shanti, Kenny Knott with the able assistance of The Humble Lion……
'Dear Momma. I am sorry to tell you dis. But I am locked up in a prison somewhere in the Caribbean wid big white men ah beat me like drum and I don't know what I did wrong! PS I am sorry it has taken 19 months to get word to you about my situation'
The people sitting around us must have thought that we were escapees from an institution for those that are 'reality challenged'.

The flight was called for boarding and we were off. On boarding the plane I did my usual of finding a window seat and going to sleep.
We landed in Montpelier and went through customs and immigration with no problems.

We were met by the promoter as Stef was at the venue setting up his sound. It was only a 30 minute drive from the airport to the venue and before long we were at the venue.

Nuff greetings all around as we entered the venue. I looked at Stef's setup and was impressed not only by how large his system had got, but the quality of the boxes construction.
There was a slight problem with the generator and the connections to it, but some advice and practical assistance and the problem was solved.
Well now to the sound check. To say that the system performed admirably would be an understatement.
The system roughed up the place and the smiles on Stef and Marie's faces as Aba gave it a best testing said it all. Marie said to me that she is so happy at the way the system now plays it has made all the trials and tribulations to get to this point so worthwhile.
Ras Pepa's pre amp looks set to start taking over the market from the previous leaders in the field. It is not without its teething problems, but once Ras Pepa has sorted them out, it will reign. Believe me, it will reign and I don't mean fall from the sky!
The session proper was kicked off by Lion Roots with Stef at the controls and Kenny on the mic.
They made the crowd move and as I looked on and took photos you could see that Stef was in his element, he was loving it! So much so that when kenny asked him to adjust the mic, Stef was so far into the music that he ignored him. Kenny said that was the first time that Stef had ever done this, as he was always concerned to make sure that the live vocal was toppa top. But as the sound that Stef was now hearing from his set was holding him a way dread!
Aba took over from Stef and the Shanti vibes got underway. It was a wicked session. The sound was very good. The vibes was well nice and the people, apart from the two very drunk girls who were hell bent on causing mayhem, was mellow.
The session finished at 05:20 when it should have ended as at 04:00. Such was the vibe in the place the security had to come over and demand that we stop.
Raspects to Steflion, Marie and the Lion Roots Cru, Kenny Nott, Ras Pepa, Kristoff, Boris, The patrons who made it such a nice dance. To the two hardcore ladies who were dancing by the speaker stack all night long, maximum raspects for the vibes and to all in Montpelier, see you again soon.

One Love
      The Humble Lion 

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