By JANELLE DE SOUZA Monday, March 24 2008

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Out of Jamaica: Jamaican dancehall and reggae stars Buju Banton and Beres Hammond perform a duet at the I am 'Legend'The Concert at Queen's Park Savan...

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After three years of planning, it finally came to pass. On Saturday night, Beres Hammond and Buju Banton appeared together in concert at the Queen’s Park Savannah, Port-of-Spain for “I Am Legend” – The Concert.

Over the years, Buju and Beres have recorded songs together to create a number of hits, however, it was a rare treat to see these two legends on the same stage. So rare in fact that several members of the audience flew in from the United States and the United Kingdom just for the show.

While waiting for the main acts, the crowd was entertained by 96.1 FM DJs as well as several local performers such as Peter C Lewis, Justin Cross, Verse iTal and Jah Melody.

At about 12.45 am, Beres, 53, took the stage and opened his set with “Can’t Stop A Man” exciting the restless audience. He continued with hit after hit – “One Dance”, “She Loves Me Now”, “Putting up a Resistance”.

The crowd swayed and sang along to “Come Back Home” and “Who Say (Big Man Nuh Cry)” – going wild when he sang the part of Buju quite convincingly.

Backed by his band, Harmony House, Beres wooed the women in the audience with his soulful, smoky voice singing “Tempted to Touch”, “No Disturb Sign”, “They Gonna Talk” and “Rock Away”. After one full hour of performing he left the crowd, the women in particular by the sound of the screams, wanting more.

After an intermission, at about 2.20 am, Buju appeared on stage. The savannah erupted with hoots, whistles and screams as he began his performance with “Me and Oonu” off the Wipe Out Riddim.

His high-energy performance continued for most of the night with hits such as “Mine Behind The Wine”, “Champion”, “Gold Spoon”, “Only Man” and more. The energy from the audience however, increased when he was joined by Beres.

Thousands of hands pumped in the air and voices were raised in song as the duo sang “Pull it Up” and “Who Say”.

At one point, Buju sang Beres’ part and vice versa and the crowd liked nothing more. Beres even jumped around the stage, imitating Buju’s moves, whipping the crowd into a frenzy and Buju into a fit of laughter.

Buju’s repertoire is vast and he kept the audience wrapped around his finger singing songs such as “Hills and Valleys”, “Untold Story”, “I Wanna Be Loved”, “Love Needs Vacation Too”, “Destiny”, “Brownin”, “Love Sponge”, “Murder” and “Driver” until well after 3.30 am.