ROAD TOWN, Tortola, BVI (Saturday, July 30, 2011) - Opening the show close to 10 p.m. was local reggae singer Macabee who sat the pace for local reggae band CB4.

The local band which has well-known singer Monique Chapdelain as one of its lead singers, delivered a conscious session of reggae music, belting out tunes such as “Human Nature”, Beres Hammonds’ “Sweetness”, “Trying” and several others. Their more than one hour performance ended with Queen Ifrika’s “Lioness on the Rise”, which made way for a highly energetic and surprising session.

International Reggae renown Maxi Priest made his appearance around 12:40 a.m., opening his night’s performance with Denis Brown’s “What it means to be love”.

He then flowed into his very popular songs, from “Just a little bit longer”, “Wild World” and “Whatever my eyes can see”.

Priest said he was happy to be back on Tortola and to the surprise of the already excited crowd; he introduced his son Marvin Priest.

The young Priest was welcomed by a very hyped crowd, belting out a song “This is how it all began”. He did two other numbers with his father serving as back up while he remained on stage throughout the show, singing with his father.

Maxi Priest belted out a few more of his popular tunes before paying tribute to great reggae legend the late Gregory Isaac with a rendition of “Night Nurse”.

Another surprise during the one-hour Maxi Priest performance was in view with reggae/dancehall singer Beniton joining Maxi and Marvin Priest for an up-tempo session of several songs, keeping the large crowd in place, jumping, waving and rocking.

Many may have been surprised at the highly energised performance from Priest with the two additions, who really kept the audience attention peaked. A new song by Priest, with a soca beat “Let’s go party” put a different spin on Priests’ regular soothing session as he closed his performance at 1:30 a.m. with his 1990 billboard smash hit “Close to you”.

Following their performance, young Priest told VINO in an exclusive interview that he enjoyed being in the Virgin Islands for the first time. He said he would love to return again once he is invited.

Marvin informed VINO that he is already signed with Universal Records and has an album coming out at the end of the year. The young singer said he is on his own and already did collaboration with a singer from New York called “Take me away” that is already in Europe.

Meanwhile, this was Beniton “The Menace” second time to the VI and he told VINO he has been doing his own thing but also tours with Maxi Priest. The dancehall/reggae singer and performer said he enjoyed the response they received in the Virgin Islands.

Making his first appearance in the Virgin Islands, Konshens lashed out some of his famous songs including “Pretty on the outside”.

The rain came down briefly but the Jamaican reggae artist said he is not afraid of the rain and called on the crowd to stay put while he continued his performance. He also belted out “Winner”, “The Realest Song” and other hit favourites. He also brought on stage two young ladies with a young American girl ending up getting his shirt.

Rocking Session by Rock City

It was time for a rocking session with Rocky City out of the US Virgin Islands who started an energetic session around 2:50 p.m., getting down to earth literally, with singing, rapping and song writing brothers getting off the stage and linking with the crowd, stating that it was unfair for the crowd to be down in the mud and they are up on the stage.

They hot up the Mighty Rockey Festiville as a more younger crowd came forward closer to the stage, as the duo belted out several favourite songs including, “Gun don’t kill”, Survivor Anthem, “Morning, noon and night”, “We on”, “Mek Money” and “Losin it”.

They also sang some of the songs they have written for various artists including Chris Brown and another song which had fast become popular, “Man Down”.

The two brother, Timothy and Theron Thomas, who were raised in St. Thomas to now become international songwriters, said they have travelled the world but got the most love out of the Virgin Islands (Tortola). Speaking in their Virgin Islands’dialect, the famous due said they came out of the gutter and were a few of those who made it out of the ghetto and now have become very popular and recognised. They acknowledged that their mom had to work two jobs to bring them up and many of their friends they grew up with ended up in jail but they managed to rise above it all and become what they are today.

The identified with the crowd before bringing down the curtains on their performance almost 4 a.m. this morning, ending the night’s showcase on very ecstatic note.

Showtime then took over and continued to keep the village alive until late hours in the morning.

Article taken from Virgin Islands News Online - http://www.virginislandsnewsonline.com