BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE LIGHTS OUT BAND from St. Kitts rocked the Pacific and Oriental cruise line’s Ocean Village on Sunday, March 14, which was docked at Port Zante.
The band played for two one-hour sessions with the first set beginning at 6:00 p.m. with Reggae and lover’s rock songs including ‘Night Nurse’ by Glen Washington, Junior Kelly’s ‘Can We Meet?’ and Taurus Riley’s ‘She’s Royal’ hit track which was dedicated to all the women in celebration of the UK’s Mother’s Day.
After a half an hour break, the band’s Soca session began at 7:30 p.m., which turned things up and saw the guests dancing and enjoying themselves.
One of the band's vocalists, Kettie, left the stage, which was situated at one of the two outdoor pools on the ship, to serenade some of the ladies in the crowd and for them to participate in the fun.
Their soca set consisted of some local Soca music and also the famous ‘Hot, Hot, Hot’ by Arrow, and they ended the night with the popular ‘One cent, five cent, ten cent, dollar’ by the Soca Boys.
According to Lee Kennedy, one of sound technician’s on the ship, the band has been performing on the vessel every two weeks since January 2010.
“It’s a fairly new thing we do on here. It’s only in St. Kitts and Barbados that we bring a band onto the ship. Lights Out is the first band we bring on to the ship, and we decided to have a local band so that passengers can get a taste of the local music of the Caribbean,” he said.
Kennedy said that the passengers have been responding well to the band of which he feels is self-efficient and a good band.
“The passengers like it; they like listening to local bands and local music, and Lights Out is a very good band. They’re very self-contained, they bring on their own equipment, they can set themselves up and it’s a good show for the passengers, and that’s why we’ve been bringing them on for as long as we can,” Kennedy told SKNVibes.
Kennedy said that the link for the band to go and perform on the ship was organised by Darren Harvey, Production Manager for P and O Cruises, who usually scouts for the bands to perform on the ship.
The ship has a capacity for 1 800 passengers and 600-650 crew members. Every five to six months, the ship would come to the Caribbean, sail around the islands and spend the summer, visit the Mediterranean and the journey back to the Caribbean.
However, Kennedy said this would be Ocean Village’s final Caribbean visit as the ship would now journey to the Mediterranean and then to Australia. On reaching Australia, the ship would be renamed under new management.
The ship has also been selling the band’s latest CD, ‘Break Away’, at its gift shops or after the band’s performance.
Seanel Herbert, manager of the band, said they are grateful for the opportunity to showcase the best of St. Kitts’ music and the versatility of the band played an important role, which prompted the production manager to choose them for the gig.
“It was an opportunity for us to continue improving our craft, and it was an entirely different audience as compared to what most local bands are accustomed to,” he said. “However, we were able to 'rock the boat' each and every time we performed onboard.”
The band, which recently celebrated its third anniversary, is hoping to perform on more gigs throughout the year. “Most persons would recall that we were unable to participate fully in the last carnival, so we are really looking to do much more during the course of the year and not wait until the next carnival.
For a young group, we have already accomplished a lot and we continue to pride ourselves on delivering a sound that is second to none,” said Herbert.
He said that the band has also been working on a number of new singles, which they hope to introduce to the masses shortly.
“We're also looking at producing at least two music videos in addition to a number of collaborations we would love to do with both local and regional artistes,” he said.
The band is also making plans for the Easter weekend. The members are planning to host a number of exciting events during that time in the Sandy Point community where the band is based.
“So folks can definitely look forward to a J’Ouvert fete and much more,” he said. Members of the band include Davin 'Dabo' Benjamin (vocalist), Stickle 'Ras' Bennett (keyboards/programmer), Javan 'Bab' Huggins (drummer), Jason 'KT' Kyte (vocalist), Devin 'Devbo' Lennon (lead guitarist), Istivon 'Isty' Richards (vocalist) and Revilo 'Revi' Rogers (bass guitarist).
