‘Reggae Sunsplash’ Finishes Without a Splash

Talk about a case of skankus interruptus.

Steel Pulse was building momentum for a triumphant finale to its headlining set at the “Reggae Sunsplash” concert at the Greek Theatre on Saturday. But the English band abruptly concluded its performance at 8 p.m. sharp--exactly four hours after the first of the weekend’s two sold-out shows began.

The audience didn’t seem to mind the anticlimactic ending--there wasn’t even much of an uproar over the lack of an encore. In fact, Steel Pulse had to vie for the audience’s attention with a beach ball bouncing around in the crowd and the dude scaling a 60-foot light tower.

That was pretty much the tone of the day: The young, racially mixed, party-minded crowd was clearly out to enjoy itself at the first event of the Greek summer season, whether milling about and dancing in the aisles near the stage or strolling out to sample to the T-shirt, crafts and food booths in a parking area adjoining the theater.

Also on the bill were singers Sugar Minott, Half Pint, Sophia George and Marcia Griffiths. The “Sunsplash” tour is due at San Diego’s Open Air Theatre on Thursday and the Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa on Friday.