I'm always ever-so-curious about subcultures, and when I first came to Jamaica I vowed that I wouldn't leave before trying to find "the rock scene" here. I mean, plenty of Americans listen to reggae, so SOMEONE must be rocking out in Kingston, right?

We found some false leads ("Rock" is sometimes used to describe everything that's not reggae/dancehall/hip hop/R+B) and some unexplored possibilities (Heavy metal Mondays at the Hilton? Hmmm...), but last night I got what I was looking for. It was our friend Steve Wilson's Tuesday Nite Live at the Village Cafe in Liguanea, and they did a pretty good job of rocking out.

The Village Cafe was actually way more packed tonight than any other night that we've been there. It makes sense, since the expat and foreign crowd that frequents Village is more likely to enjoy rock. It was pretty awesome to see Jamaicans and foreigners rock out together. At one point, people even started doing the two finger gun salute usually used at dancehall events to applaud the performers-I guess it's the thought, not the exact arrangement of fingers, that counts. (more...)