BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE ‘Stitch in Time’ Concert that featured a host of top female local and regional artistes, delivered top class performances to a sold out crowd at Carnival Village on Friday night (28 Oct. 2011).
The event featured local performers Shakki, Queen Anastasia, Empress Livity, Rolhensha and Dymonized while the regional artistes were Alaine, Ce’Cile, Tanya Stephens, Queen Ifrica and bringing down the curtains for the night was Lady Saw.
In speaking with the organizer of the event, Wayne K. Clarke, he said St. Kitts needs more concerts like these and he plans to host more events.
He said he was pleased with the turnout and explained that this was for the ladies.
“I got the name of the event from Masud’s song, ‘A Stitch in Time’ and it basically sums up all kinds of struggle that women need to overcome,” he said.
News had broken out almost two months ago that on October 28, 2011, there would be a major concert hitting St. Kitts with top female headliners.
And with all artistes having their own large fan base due to their successful careers over the years, many fans in St. Kitts declared it was an event they could not afford to miss.
A major crowd was expected to attend and indeed, that was the sight at Carnival Village that had not seen a large crowd like that perhaps since fellow Jamaican Jah Cure’s debut in 2008.
The local artistes were backed up by Royalties Band and Shakki had the ball rolling first with her songs, ‘Party Plenty’, ‘Riders Only’ and ‘Vicious’.
The soca artiste said she had a great time on the stage and loved the feedback from the crowd.
“It is time now for women to realize that we can do what men can and more. Women need to look out for each other and men need to understand that we’re equal,” she said.
The reigning Female Calypso Bacchanal, Queen Anastasia showcased her versatility with singing pure original reggae tunes.
One of her most popular song’s strong message rang out as she sang, “Peace and Love is what we need” which is truly a relevant message for the Federation.
She also sang ‘Murder’ and her newest song ‘Falling in Love’.
The duo female group Dymonized sang ‘Heart on the floor’, ‘Fall for you’, ‘Mahogny’ and songs off the Evil Walk Riddim.
It was their first time in a major concert and all in all they handled that task well.
Empress Livity said that she enjoyed performing onstage and thought she did well during her performance of ‘Gangsta’s wife’, ‘Taking me over’, ‘Hot gyal nuh dunce’ and ‘Simplicity’.
Livity explained before she sang ‘Gangsta’s Wife’, that a gansta only had negative things to offer his wife including jail time, court cases, hospital, funeral home, death and said for those reasons she cannot be a ‘Gangsta’s wife’.
The message was pertinent for many young women who claim to be attracted to so-called thugs and ganstas, the type who ‘go against society and the law’.
Rolhensha was the final local act and she also displayed a top class performance.
Some of the songs she sang were ‘Tee’ along with her hit anthem ‘Defend it’.
She was also brought onstage during a surprise performance by local star Masud Sadiki who sang his song ‘A Stitch in Time’.
It was now time for the first regional act, Alaine who entered the stage singing ‘We Rise’.
She also sang ‘Sacrifice’, ‘No Ordinary Love’, Selena’s ‘Dreaming of You’ before she sang her version of ‘Dreaming of You’ which also features Beenie Man.
During her performance of ‘Sacrifice’ she invited a man from the audience onstage and proceeded to serenade and dance seductively with him, much to the envy of other men in attendance.
Up next was the self-proclaimed ‘Bad Gyal’ Ce’Cile who entered the stage singing ‘Goody’ and continued with tunes ‘Hot Like We’, ‘Changez’, ‘Can you do di wuk’, ‘I’m waiting’ and ‘Anything’.
In her tune ‘Aything’, she said that “when a girl loves a man, she’d do everything to make him feel right, “him every wish a come main, hot gyal becomes housewife”.
Tanya Stephens definitely needed no introduction; she definitely had the crowd’s attention and bellowed out hits after hits.
Some of the songs she sang were ‘These Streets’, ‘Boom Wuk’, ‘Can’t Breathe’, ‘It’s a Pity’, ‘After You’ and a host of others that had the female audience singing along.
The artiste that declares “she nah rub”, Queen Ifrica was up next.
Her performance was electrifying and sweet.
But unfortunately the ‘Lioness on the Rise’ spent about 20 minutes on the stage which was disappointing to some.
It was also disappointing when she did not sing ‘Times Like These’ which is one of her recent hits, however, her performance of ‘Love below the waist’, ‘Daddy’ and ‘Keep it to yourself’ were excellent.
Following Ifrica, was the lady who had the most experience, most hits, from songs like ‘Healing’ with Beenie Man to ‘Chat to mi back’… it was Lady Saw taking the stage.
She was surely in her element last night, and showed that not only was she a singer but also a great entertainer.
In an interview with SKNVibes, Lady Saw said that she recently did a tune with Beres Hammond called ‘She Has Changed’ which speaks about sexual abuse of women and young girls; experiences which affect their mentality.
She said to the audience, “I have a girlfriend and she is always with me” which sent the crowd into frenzy.
She performed for over an hour and even serenaded a gentleman in the crowd; she actually left the stage and sat on the railing that separated the crowd to dance with the man whom she said reminded her of someone “back home”.
The veteran artiste also belted out ‘I’ve Got your man’, ‘Infertility’, ‘Man is the least’ and went into a medley of past dancehall hits of ‘Sycamore Tree’, ‘Backshot’ and ‘Ninja Bike’.
Lady Saw is showing no signs of slowing down and her fans are most pleased as it seems as though they cannot get enough of the lyrical strapped artist.
Saw finished her performance with ‘Chat to Mi Back’ bringing the concert to a successful end.
Freedom Radio’s Sweet Sister Sensia and EK, as the night’s hosts, kept the crowd entertained throughout. It was a night to remember.
