ENTITY · VENUE
House of Leo
Well supported
The Kingston lawn on Cargill Avenue, Half Way Tree, that was dancehall's central venue through the 1980s and into the 1990s — where Metro Media with Sky Juice and Peter Metro, Stone Love and the other big sounds played to hardcore crowds and where the era's style, dances and reputations were made and lost. Opened in 1979 by Olga May "Mama G" Lee (named for her own zodiac sign), it hosted Stone Love's long-running Thursday-night session through the mid-1980s.
The venue closed and was later revived, reopening 1 April 2023 under Kelvin Lee, Mama G's son. Its name recurs constantly in accounts of the period as the room that mattered.
At a glance
- Type
- Venue →
- Confidence
- Well supported
- Sources
- Jamaica Star ("House of Leo officially reopens April 1"); Wayne Tippetts photo archive; Dance Hall Geographies.
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