BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THOUSANDS of musical volts were channeled through the Warner Park Football Stadium by Soca King Machel Montano and Destra Garcia, as they musically electrified all those who were present at the 18th Annual Music Festival’s ‘Jump Up Night’.
Last night (Jun. 26) could not have been better for the thousands of patrons as two of the most talented Soca performers in the entertainment industry delivered a world-class performance that left them calling for encores.
Being the last performer for the night, Machel Montano went onstage at about 3:00 a.m. and provided his many fans with an unforgettable one-hour performance. Backed by the HD Band, Patrice Roberts, Farmer Nappy and the HD Dancers, the ‘Happiest man Alive’ singer kept many members of the crowd on their feet screaming, shouting, dancing and having the times of their lives.
With their sexy and fierce choreography skills, the six HD girls, who were featured in the ‘Ministry of Roads’ music video, wowed the crowd as they came out dressed in their skimpy two-piece outfit.
‘Float’, ‘Epic, ‘HMA’, MOR’ and ‘Advantage’ were some of the songs that had the crowd of thousands jumping, waving and screaming as Machel executed some of his dance moves incorporated with gyrations.
Prior to Machel Montano’s performance, the night took an energetic turn for the better as Destra Garcia, with what could be described as a riveting, energetic and unforgettable performance, electrified the stage and left the thousands in attendance asking for more.
Songs such as ‘Max it Up’ and ‘Call my Name’ were the power hits of the night as she jumped from left to right, up and down and round and round entertaining her audience. With her dynamic onstage performance, Destra transferred that energy to a very receptive audience.
She was joined onstage by a new act out of Trinidad, Silver, who has been performing with her for the past couple of years. During yesterday morning’s press conference at the St. Kitts Marriott Hotel, she explained that her new side act is a young artiste whom she mentors.
Off to an on-time start, the stage was opened to Fantastic Tunda, who earlier this week had contracted the Chikungunya virus. He however defied the odds, went onstage but his performance had lacked the input to energise those who were present at the time.
His performance made way for another local act - Meko and Delly Ranks out of sister isle Nevis. The duo performed their hit single ‘Love we Festival’ which had their audience dancing and lustily singing along with them.
Being the first of two bands to perform at the Festival, the ‘Sweetest Band in the World’, Small Axe, was not a disappointing group as usual as the band, lead by Mr. World, fired things up in Warner Park.
Meringue singer Elvis Crespo was a sight to see as he thrilled the crowed with his dances and a number of songs, including his hit single ‘Suavemente’. His renditions had the crowd moving to a number of Latin-type dances such as the Salsa and Meringue.
Crespo is the first of Spanish singers to perform at the St. Kitts Music Festival.
Trinidadian calypsonian Explainer, who celebrated his 67th birthday yesterday, could not have gotten the crowd’s involvement during his performance, because the majority was not familiar with the old Calypsos that he sang.
However, it was not until he belted out ‘Lorraine’, a hit that almost every Caribbean national knew, did he get a response from the crowd, which could be termed as “they went wild”.
Destra had made way for Skinny Fabulous, who struggled at the beginning to grab the crowd’s attention with a number of his earlier singles. But after some 10 minutes onstage, he gained control of the crowd and delivered a fairly great performance.
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