Anything Goes 2012 NYC: Elephant Man, Mr. Vegas & Caribbean Stars at Pulse 48
On Saturday, September 1, 2012, New York Carnival Weekend was already heating up when DJ Norie’s Anything Goes brought a major Caribbean lineup to Pulse 48 in Brooklyn.
Running from 12 PM to 8 PM, the Labor Day weekend concert brought together Dancehall, Reggae and Konpa artists just two days before thousands of masqueraders and spectators would fill Eastern Parkway for the West Indian American Day Carnival Parade. The announced lineup included Elephant Man, Mr. Vegas, Ding Dong, Cham, Serani, Wayne Wonder, Gyptian and Haitian band Dola Mizik.
Julianspromos was inside the event with Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson hosting the on-camera coverage, while Julian C. Hackett shot and edited the footage.
Anything Goes During New York Carnival Weekend
Anything Goes had already established itself as one of DJ Norie’s signature Caribbean events by 2012.
The concert series first launched in March 2010, celebrating Norie’s first year on New York’s Power 105.1 FM. It grew into a recurring event built around the same musical freedom suggested by its name — Dancehall, Reggae, Soca and other Caribbean sounds sharing the same stage.
That format was a natural fit for Labor Day weekend in Brooklyn.
Caribbean New Yorkers from different islands were already gathering for parties, concerts, J’Ouvert and Carnival, and Anything Goes offered an afternoon where several sides of Caribbean music could meet under one roof.
Elephant Man Brings the Energy
Elephant Man was one of the biggest names on the September 1 lineup.
By 2012, the Jamaican Dancehall star had spent years building a reputation around explosive stage performances, colorful personality and records designed to move a crowd.
Songs such as “Pon de River, Pon de Bank,” “Signal de Plane” and “Willie Bounce” had made him one of the genre’s most recognizable performers, and an Anything Goes crowd during Carnival weekend was exactly the kind of audience suited to his energy.
The Julianspromos coverage captures Elephant Man inside that atmosphere, with Vivaa connecting with the artist while Julian’s camera documents the surrounding performance.
Mr. Vegas in Brooklyn
Mr. Vegas brought another major Jamaican voice to Pulse 48.
His appearance came during a particularly strong period in his career. Earlier that year, he had released the Sweet Jamaica album and was enjoying renewed attention around “Bruk It Down,” one of the defining Dancehall records of his 2012 run.
By September, that music had followed him into New York Carnival Weekend.
Vegas and Elephant Man represented two very different but complementary sides of Dancehall: Elephant Man’s relentless performance energy and Vegas’ ability to move between Dancehall, Reggae and melodic crossover records.
Elephant Man & Mr. Vegas at Anything Goes
The surviving Julianspromos video brings both artists together in one look back at the September 1 event.
Elephant Man at DJ Norie’s Anything Goes during New York Carnival Weekend 2012. Julianspromos coverage hosted by Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson and shot and edited by Julian C. Hackett.
With Vivaa hosting the on-camera coverage and Julian C. Hackett shooting and editing the footage, the feature moves between the artists and the live-event atmosphere surrounding them.
A Packed Caribbean Lineup
Anything Goes stretched well beyond its two headline names.
Ding Dong, Cham, Serani, Wayne Wonder and Gyptian were also announced for the September 1 concert, giving the afternoon an unusually deep Jamaican lineup. Haitian band Dola Mizik added Konpa to the mix and represented Haiti during the wider celebration of West Indian culture.
The lineup brought different eras together.
Wayne Wonder represented a generation whose Reggae and Dancehall records had crossed heavily into international markets.
Cham brought the harder edge of Dancehall.
Gyptian brought a smoother Reggae sound.
Serani represented another wave of Jamaican music that had broken internationally during the late 2000s.
Ding Dong brought dance culture directly into the music.
And Elephant Man and Mr. Vegas were already veterans of Caribbean stages around the world.
Haiti Joins the Celebration
Dola Mizik gave the event an important Haitian presence.
The New York-based nine-member Konpa band was promoting its New York Time era and viewed the Labor Day weekend performance as a chance to represent Haiti alongside other Caribbean communities gathering in Brooklyn.
That fit naturally with the weekend itself.
New York Carnival has never belonged to only one island. Trinidad and Tobago may provide much of the Carnival tradition, but Brooklyn’s Labor Day celebrations have long brought together Jamaicans, Haitians, Bajans, Grenadians, Vincentians, Guyanese and Caribbean communities from across the region.
Inside Anything Goes, that same diversity came through the music.
Vivaa at Anything Goes
Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson hosted Julianspromos’ on-camera coverage throughout the event.
By this point in 2012, Vivaa had already become a familiar presence across Julianspromos’ artist interviews and Caribbean event coverage.
Anything Goes placed her in another environment entirely: a packed Dancehall-heavy Carnival weekend show with several major Jamaican artists passing through the same venue.
Behind the camera, Julian C. Hackett filmed the performances, interviews and surrounding event footage before editing the completed Julianspromos coverage.
Together, the two brought viewers closer to the artists than a straightforward concert recording could.
DJ Norie’s Anything Goes Formula
The success of Anything Goes came from understanding how Caribbean audiences in New York actually listened to music.
The same person who loved Dancehall might also listen to Soca.
A Reggae record could lead into Hip-Hop.
Konpa could enter the room without feeling out of place.
Anything Goes was built around that flexibility.
DJ Norie launched the series in 2010, and it eventually developed into a recurring Caribbean concert brand capable of drawing audiences ranging from approximately 1,500 to more than 6,000 people, according to the event’s official history.
The September 2012 edition captured that formula during the busiest Caribbean weekend of the year in New York.
Carnival Weekend in Brooklyn
By Saturday afternoon, Labor Day weekend was only getting started.
Across Brooklyn, Caribbean parties and concerts were building toward J’Ouvert and the West Indian American Day Carnival Parade.
Anything Goes gave fans an early meeting point.
They could see some of Jamaica’s biggest artists, hear Konpa alongside Dancehall and spend an afternoon immersed in Caribbean music before the weekend moved toward its Monday climax.
For the artists, New York Carnival Weekend meant access to one of the largest Caribbean diaspora audiences in the United States.
For the crowd, it meant seeing a lineup that would have been difficult to assemble on an ordinary weekend.
From the Julianspromos Archives
On September 1, 2012, DJ Norie’s Anything Goes brought Elephant Man, Mr. Vegas and a wide Caribbean lineup to Pulse 48 during New York Carnival Weekend.
Dancehall dominated the afternoon, while Reggae and Haitian Konpa expanded the sound of the event beyond any one style or island.
Julianspromos was there with Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson hosting the on-camera coverage and Julian C. Hackett shooting and editing the footage.
The surviving video takes viewers back to a Brooklyn Carnival weekend when Elephant Man, Mr. Vegas and some of the Caribbean’s most recognizable voices were all part of the same afternoon at Anything Goes.
