Specials legend Neville Staple gave the Long Live Kingston Carnival crowd a night to remember at McCluskys yesterday.

The Original Rude Boy was one of the reasons the cancelled carnival, planned for the Market Place, was expected to be so popular and showed why in his set of classic ska tunes.

Kingston Carnival founder John Azah introduces Nevile Staple to an eager crowd

From the atmospheric Man at C&A to the energetic Monkey Man, the man from Coventry had Kingston on its feet.

A regular at New Slang, Staple bemoaned the original gig's cancellation, scheduled for Sunday, and praised the crowd for turning out for the intimate show.

His performance was, of course, peppered with first-wave Jamaican ska hits such as Johnny Too Bad.

Neville performs Farmhouse Connection 

But tunes such as Ghost Town and Doesn’t Make It Alright, harking back to his days alongside the likes of Terry Hall and Jerry Dammers in the Specials, stole the show.

The crowd loved it, the Neville Staple Band loved it and it was a night a celebration.

But just imagine how much greater it could have been with thousands of visitors in Kingston’s most historic location.

Capoeira dancers wow the crowd