BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE 20th annual St. Kitts Music Festival is shaping up to be an unforgettable one, with last night’s (Jun. 23) performances setting the bar quite high for the other acts which would be performing this evening and the following one.
They don’t call it Jump Up Night for nothing. From the onset to the end, it was feting, drinking, wining, rhythm and bass among the thousands of patrons for near seven hours.
The first artistes of the evening were Bacchanalist, LAX, KJah, Shanna and Nicha B, and while some were expecting somewhat of a slow start graduating into a crescendo, the hype was maintained from beginning to end.
El Clasico of the Dominican Republic was a favourite of the Spanish-speaking patrons who welcomed him onstage with screams of support and remained attentive until he exited the stage.
The Bouyon Pioneers added an interesting flavour to the St. Kitts Music Festival with its fusion sound which mixes different genres of music. Bouncing down memory lane, the audience was singing along when the group performed favourites, which included ‘Balance Batty’.
Its interactive style of performance meant that the crowd did not get a chance to experience any downtime.
Trinidad and Tobago’s KES the Band showed its skill and diversity by gliding effortlessly and seamlessly across various genres of music including Pop, Reggae and Soca. Originals such as ‘Tuesday on the Rocks’ were performed but KES threw into the mix Krosfyah’s ‘Pump me Up’, Bob Marley’s ‘One Love’, Buju Banton’s ‘Champion’ and Barrington Levy’s ‘Too Experienced’.
Before Burning Flames could have taken to the stage, a series of fireworks were released into the air as part of the 20th anniversary celebration.
The younger patrons, the older ones and those in between seemed to thoroughly enjoy the heat which was thrown by the Burning Flames.
The Chook and Dig band pulled from its archive and had its audience in a state of utter enjoyment, no doubt causing many to reflect on where they were and what they were doing when they first heard some of the songs.
‘Workey’, ‘Sugar Apple’, ‘If You Get What You Want Tonight’, ‘Island Girl’, ‘Swinging Engine’, ‘I Command You’, ‘Iron Band’ and the list of golden oldies went on and on.
After igniting the flames within the audience, the band tossed bottles of water within the crowd and instructed that they not be imbibed but rather be used as props in the ‘We Like it Wet’ song.
The two final acts for the evening were the Nu Vybes Band, a.k.a De Sugar Band, which performed songs including ‘Video Light’, ‘Oxygen’, ‘Born in SKB’ and Ellie Matt’s ‘Sugar City Jam’; and the four-time consecutive Road March Champion the Small Axe Bad.
‘Pepper Dem’, ‘Bottoms in De Road’, ‘Creep Up’ and ‘Hardware’ were some of the songs that Small Axe dished out to close the first night of the 20th annual St. Kitts Music Festival.
