Eunice Nisbett
Performances at the St. Kitts Sweet 16 Music Festival were well received with a jam packed Warner Park on Friday Night, as patrons bought out all five thousand tickets printed, in anticipation of seeing the artistes slated for the night.
Reggae artiste, Lovindeer, kicked off the show and had both young and old patrons rocking in short order with his hits ‘Wild Gilbert’ and ‘Panty Size.’ The veteran’s performance was filled with humor as he used a ridiculously oversized red satin panty to wipe the sweat from his face, claiming it was never worn, but made specifically for the night.
Lovinder performing Wild Gilbert
Performances by fellow reggae veteran Eric Donaldson and Britain’s most famous Saxophonist Courtney Pine followed; before there was a change in tempo and the younger artistes out of Jamaica took over the stage.
Eric Donaldson performing ‘Land of my birth’
First up was I-Octane; as his name alludes, the performance was very high energy. Though his lyrics were not always clear, the crowd knew his songs word for word and sang along with him. One lucky young lady was called on stage and danced along to the singer’s slower song ‘Missing you.’ The duo ‘wined’ slowly to the tune on stage before she was rewarded with a kiss.
Courtney Pine performing ‘Children of the ghetto’
The swarm of young patrons, girls and guys alike forced their way closer to the stage with anticipation as Popcaan appeared with his signature Yooooww! Signaling the start of what many described as the best performance of the night. Jumping from hit to hit, the crowd resembled the dance hall, females gyrating to every tune and fellows shouting out every verse.
I Octane seranading the crowd up close and personal to ‘Love You’
‘Party shot’ sent the ladies wild while ‘Clean’ and ‘Clarks’ had the guys dusting off their sneakers and boots. Speculation prior to the night predicted that the long awaited performance by the young artiste would resemble those of previous dancehall artiste that only stayed on stage for just over 15 minutes, leaving the crowd thoroughly disappointed. Popcaan proved his audience wrong, carrying a performance of close to one hour. The greater part of the younger patrons left the park following his performance.
The man Popcaan belting out the famous Vybz Kartel tune, ‘Clarks’
Damian ‘Junior Gong’ Marley brought the curtain down on the Friday with a performance no less than that expected by the son of the greatest reggae artiste who ever lived. High energy, stellar music from start to finish, Junior Gong bounced along with the men to ‘Welcome to JamRock’ and captured the ladies hearts with his latest single ‘Affairs of the Heart.’
No one was left simply standing in the crowd into early Saturday, every patron welcomed the morning as they swayed to the sounds of Damian ‘Junior Gong, Tuff Gong’ Marley.
Written by: Teshell Samuel; edited by Eunice Nisbett
CaribDirect.com was proud to be one of the Media Partners of St. Kitts Sweet 16 Music Festival.
Damian ‘Junior Gong, Tuff Gong’ Marley performing to ‘Affairs of the Heart’
Glimpse of the Music festival crowd
Lovinder and Music Festival Girls
Eric Donaldson and the Music Festival Girls
I Octane and the Music Festival Girls
Popcaan and the Music Festival Girls
Gramps Morgan of Morgan Heritage
Jnr Gong doing his thing!
An ecstatic crowd couldn’t get enough…!
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