A nice night in Santa Fe: mild weather for this time of year and as Itals were in town from morning already, all was set and there were no worries.

We met Keith Porter driving the touring-van himself, which impressed the whole of us. The bredda was quite down to earth. Attendance was right around 200 people and Mister Kali nicened up the vibes on Brotherhood Sound to the delight of the New Mexico massive. The  tight VITALS backing band took the stage at 11pm and went through a number of classic reggae riddims before the ITALS, in the form of Keith Porter and David Isaacs, began to ROCK Club Dread. While they were mainly focusing on the promotion of their new album "Mi Livity", it was their hits from yesteryear as "Ina Dis A Time" and "Herbs Pirate" that drew the most forwards. As a matter of fact, I cannot remember ANY reggae artist in NM since my return in 2000 drawing as many forwards as the ITALS did for their classics-dancehall, roots or otherwise. No Beenie Man, no Capleton, no Freddy Mc Gregor! They ripped it until 12:45 am after which Don Martin closed down the night with a touch of dancehall bashment and further roots & culture.

"Woi woi woi Brotherhood brutal out deh-dem a murderer-dem a soundkiller!"