The second Serious Times concert in as many weeks had every right to be a perfunctory affair. It was, after all, a make-up call; an event designed to atone for the omissions or miscues of the first show. Truth be told, the first show was quite nice, and the promoters might have been forgiven even without this second instalment. Nevertheless, Serious Times Part 2 was hastily organised to appease the teeming masses; and it was fantastic!The setting was the same, except a shift in field position at the ample Lord’s cricket ground in St. David’s. The environment was oozing positivity and conscious vibes at will; which is just about right for a show touted ‘Serious Times 2: Conscious Daughters’. This second and final leg of this surprisingly fresh series was presented as an all-female line-up of phenomenally talented singers, and it was, in a word, awesome.The local portion of this concert featured top Bermudian songbirds like Maurita Andre, Joy Barnum, and Sia Spence. Each was accompanied by live instrumentation, and each offered their own eccentric and unique sound.Maurita fronted her band Night Play, delivering smooth, sultry vocals designed to get the crowd ‘In the mood’. Well, the groups’ rendition of the Bill Withers classic ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’ was wonderful, and Seal’s ‘Where There is Gold’ was good, but the Irie vibes on hand at St. David’s on Saturday night kept the “mood” at bay for the moment. After all was said and done, Ms. Andre had delivered an overall solid performance that exhibited every ounce of her considerable stage experience.Joy blessed the stage next, and delivered about half an hour of acoustic guitar accompanied alternative rock. Joy was greeted with a mixed reception when she took the stage in a leggy white Amethyst creation, but soon softened the hard core reggae vibe by pointing out that Bob Marley preached roots, rock, and reggae, and she was there to offer the rock portion.It helped that she sang beautifully, and her sole accompaniment, Michael McPhee, made his guitar sound like an orchestra. Highlights included Tessanne Chin’s ‘Hideaway’, her hope-filled tribute to Kellon Hill, ‘Children of the Sun’, and a remix of the local hit ‘Summertime’, which was aided by a cameo from Live Wires (who wrote and recorded the original song) on vocals and Djembe drum. By the end of Ms. Barnum’s set, the reaction had become anything but mixed; hard core reggae fan or not, good music is good music, and these people certainly appreciated what Joy offered on Saturday night.The closing act of the local portion of the line-up was the incomparable Sia Spence. Sia delivered a typically fabulous performance, enjoying considerably more crowd support than any other local performer, and fronting her wonderful band like a seasoned veteran. Highlights of Sia’s set included a soulful version of Half Pint’s ‘I’m not a Substitute Lover’, an exhilarating performance of Alaine’s ‘Coulda Never Make It Without You’, and an absolutely stirring reggae rendition of the Kanye West opus ‘Heartless’. She was rightly showered with adulation, and represented the perfect bridge between Maurita and Joy’s eclectic offerings and the international cast of conscious daughters that was about to take the stage.The legendary Sister Nancy opened the international portion of the show, and simply blew the roof off the place! Well, there was technically no roof to begin with, but you know what that expression means! The universally acknowledged first female Deejay to bless a reggae track delivered a brisk 20-or-so-minute performance that had the 1,000-plus member audience jumping and waving like it was carnival. She trod all over some of the greatest reggae rhythms ever recorded, shared her love for Bermuda, presented a career retrospective, and closed with her massive international hit “Bam Bam.” Sister Nancy was a genius addition to this all female line-up, and provided the kind of gravitas and authenticity that true lovers of reggae music certainly appreciate.Speaking of appreciation, promoter Declan Harris expressed his appreciation of the public’s patronage by getting on stage and absolutely smashing a five minute rendition of his own seminal hit ‘Rebel DJ’ to the utter delight of the ample crowd-a-people. Then the headliner came on to cap off what had already been quite a marvellous little show.Etana gave us about an hour of stunning vocals, moving medleys, splendid hits, sweet positivity, and massive personality. Highlights of her breathtaking set included covers of Bob Marley’s ‘One Drop’, the classic ‘I Wanna Love You’, and the timeless ‘Redemption Song’ (which was delivered as an encore), a medley of Jimmy Cliff standards ‘You Can Get It If You Really Want’, and ‘The Harder They Come,” and beautiful original pieces like ‘Free’, the militant ‘Roots’, the fearless ‘I Am Not Afraid’, and the simply sublime ‘Blessing’.Etana gave considerable credence to her title of ‘The Strong One’, as she commanded the stage like a wily veteran, mesmerising the crowd, and winning fans by the bucketful. Pieces like the foreboding ‘War’ which describes a future filled with conflict if humanity does not changes its ways, much like the Haile Selassie inspired Marley standard of the same name, and the scintillating ‘Retribution’ which evokes Peter Tosh’s famous warnings to the ‘Downpressor Man’ proved that this voice is as strong and righteous a female voice as we have ever seen in reggae music, period. The prospect of having this artists creating music for the next few decades is a simply mouthwatering proposition.After the show, Etana spent something like a half an hour signing autographs for a throng of fans; it was a rare scene for Bermuda, but after such a performance, it was quite easy to understand the fans’ exuberance. The gracious artist also did an impromptu interview for local music portal www.livity.bm, and still stuck around to talk to me.Etana expressed her love for Bermuda, and pledged to be back real soon. Let’s hope the local concert scene stays peaceful enough to make Etana’s return to these shores a certainty. Great job Just One Promotions, please, let’s keep the positive vibes flowing; the Bermuda public is hungry for positivity in these historically serious times.