Tarrus Riley smiles with the audience during his performance.

Elephant Man, Alison Hinds and Shaggy may have put in outstanding performances at the Shaggy and Friends concert on the lawns of Jamaica House on Saturday night, but several other artistes also put in strong sets.

On the night when nobody performed for longer than 15 minutes, Tarrus Riley had patrons wanting more. His rich vocals and engaging style warmed the throng of women in the audience dressed in short, sexy dresses and stilettos. As he sang Stay With You, he urged the crowd to sing along. At their first attempt, the sing-a-long was not very convincing so he urged them to "warm up you voice" .When he tried again they responded to his urging and sang boldly "I will stay with you".

He really got them going when he unleashed his hit single She's Royal before taking on Dean Fraser, playfully challenging the saxophonist to match each note he sang. The audience thoroughly enjoyed it. In the end, Fraser won.

Entertaining sets

There were other similarly entertaining sets on the night. Tony Rebel was, as usual, great. He came with Fresh Vegetable and then got into a medley of songs from his 'friends' including Trying to Get to You, the La La Song and Tempted to Touch, among others. He closed out his set singing the Spanish version of Jah is Standing By My Side as the audience swayed to the beat.

Freddie McGregor was equally short but sweet and had the audience singing along as if longing for the days when the music was

always this unforgettable. He gave the eager audience some of their favourites, including Push Come to Shove and Big Ship.

In keeping with the trend set by McGregor and Rebel, Luciano presented a set with music that includedIt's Me Again Jah and Lord Give Me Strength. As he performed, dressed in a white ensemble with hints of red and green, Luciano evoked a spirituality that was palpable and very well received.

Etana was equally likeable, if not outstanding, and the same could be said for the talented Tessanne Chin, whose set included Hideaway and Messenger.

Morgan Heritage was excellent, performing their hits Down By the River and She's Been Loving Me. They returned the crowd to that spiritual place when the voices of Peter and Gramps were joined by the raspy vocals of Buju Banton as together they performed the 23rd Psalm.

Emotional highlight

But perhaps the most emotional moment of the night came when Lady Saw sang a song she said she wrote after suffering a miscarriage.

Her emotions ran so high she had trouble singing the lyrics. As she did, the audience remained silent, clearly feeling for her and clearly moved by the performance.

Sean Paul tried his best and produced a fairly entertaining set but the real excitement that other artistes generate from their audiences continues to elude him.

Chris Martin was short but solid.

But the night was not only about music. Ity and Fancy Cat entertained with a short skit, a parody on the incident involving George Bush and the shoe-throwing Iraqi reporter. Inserting Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding and Opposition leader Portia Simpson Miller into Bush's role, they depicted how each would react to the throwing of the shoes.

They had the audience in stitches.

Shaggy (left) and one of his backup singers, Na'Sha, perform 'Wild Tonight' during the Shaggy and Friends concert on Saturday night at Jamaica - colin hamilton House.