BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE ENTERTAINMENT SCENE in St. Kitts and specifically the nightlife has had its highs and lows over the years and seems to have had a hard time finding a steady balance.
SKNVibes spoke with Lexy Brooks about her views and opinions on the night life in St. Kitts and what advice she would like to offer.
Brooks is an entertainment guru and Concert Promoter extraordinaire who was born in Jamaica but moved to the US during her early teens.
She founded VIP Connected Entertainment, LLC and over the years she has worked with the "Who's Who" in the entertainment industry including Artists, Media, and Promoters alike.
Her list of Grammy Award Winning clientele includes Michael Bolton, Beres Hammond, Beenie Man, John Legend, Pastor Donnie McClurkin, 4 time Grammy winner Ms. Deniece Williams, Wyclef Jean, Elephant Man, TOK, TPAIN, Chaka Khan, Neyo, Kanye West, AKON, Tony Matterhorn, former Culture, Trey Songs, Maxi Priest, Shaggy, Eve, Ludacris, T.I., KC&The Sunshine band, the Manhattans, Sean Paul, Busta Rhymes, Fabulous, Maxi Priest, Machel Montano HD, Stephen Marley, Damian Jr. Gong Marley, heartthrob sensations Mario and Omarion.
Brooks said that the entertainment arena could be better and it is different from when she did events in 2003 to 2009. During that time her company had definitely transformed the entertainment scene in St. Kitts.
She brought in artistes like Beres Hammond, Beenie Man, Elephant Man and bands from various islands for Band Clashes.
Whenever they hosted events, the media would be invited several days later to cover a donation they would make to charity.
She said that there are a lot more dances being organized today as opposed to concerts and stage shows in the past, but said that promoters are sometimes the problem.
She said there is little respect among the promoters and that is one of the main things hurting the industry.
“There is very little respect among Promoters - someone sees you throwing a dance/party and they want to drop their dance or party on the same night as yours or even before yours especially if you don’t hire them to play at your event,” Brooks said.
“SKNVibes did an article some years back where they attributed the transformation of entertainment in St. Kitts to our company VIP Connected Entertainment. I am looking to see who will transform it in the next decade. When VIP Connected promoted, we did so with a passion, and believe me if we put on 40 shows we probably lost on 30, but we did it because we had the means to do so and it was our passion. Plus we brought a lot of happy vibes to a lot of people.”
She said that another factor that was hurting the industry was that everyone wants a free pass to go to an event.
“How do you expect the Promoter to pay their expenses if everyone gets in for free? And the same people who get in for free are the first ones to bash a Promoter the next day stating they have not paid their security as yet or the hotel.
“How can they pay their bills if people keep trying to sneak into parties for free, passing wrist bands through bathroom doors and walls and jumping fences? That’s why I will forever big up the proud people who purchase their tickets, buy their outfits and join the line to go into a party.
“What they may not realize is that the Artist ain’t come for free, the airline ain’t give them free first class roundtrip tickets and the hotel ain’t give them all free rooms. So if the Promoter has to pay for all of that so that you can come have a good time, hear your favorite artist and watch them perform, the least you can do is go buy your ticket,” she said.
Brooks explained that at times a Promoter loses even before their event is held.
“One of the things that most people don’t know is, when promoting a party the Promoter stand to lose even before the day of the show. All the expenses (artist fee, hotel, and airline etc) that gets paid upfront and the Promoter is not guaranteed to make that back and they can only pray that the day of the event comes with no rain and nothing hinders the event from happening.”
She advises that Promoters should not spend their last dollar to put on an event unless they did not mind losing it.
She also said that they need to respect other Promoters and respect the time of year or month when they are hosting their event.
“Take your crowd to their concert/dance/party whatever and in turn they will take their crowd to yours and watch the difference in the crowd support. Don’t drop a dance the same night as another promoter simply because he/she did not book you for their event and you want to compete and play the politricks.
It’s good to see some people such as Sister Sensia keeping the real party vibes alive with her year to year birthday bash, where people can come and know that it’s a surety for certainty every year.
“It’s good to see St. Kitts Music Festival continuing to reign as the Premier Music Festival in the entire Eastern Caribbean. Again, once a good party is happening everyone should go out and support, dance and have a good time no matter which band is playing, because at the end of the day it doesn’t matter what name goes in front, it’s still a St. Kitts and Nevis band,” the Promoter said.
She also spoke about the sponsors.
“I must touch on the sponsors because this is something that I have been observing and experienced in SK, that really and truly I don’t see it in the other islands. With the exception of a few sponsors such as Digicel, LIME, some Media houses and a handful of others, corporations in St. Kitts don’t sponsor a lot of events and I am certain that they get a marketing budget every quarter so it makes me wonder. And for the record I am speaking from personal experience and quoting others who have shared the same views.”
Another aspect she highlighted was that there was not much support for the local artistes.
“Support the local artists to the max, as DJ’s, you have to ‘buss’ your artist first in your country so that another person can take notice. At the same time, I am not going to lie to an artist and tell them that they sound great if they don’t. I would rather not say a word. Some upcoming artists need to be humble so that they can get more airplay and more bookings. Don’t think you have made it big and start hype when only 200 people viewed your video on Youtube and seen this all across the Caribbean.
And finally, she spoke about other avenues of entertainment…
“Everyone associates parties and bringing in artistes as the main source of entertainment in St. Kitts but who is bringing in the Magic shows? Boxing? Circus? Church Conventions? Wrestling? Plays? Comedy shows? And I mean on a regular basis not just once in a while.
“Why don’t I see any game shows in St. Kitts? Don’t tell me parties are the only source of entertainment that is profitable? I see these as ways for helping to step up the Entertainment Arena in St. Kitts,” she said.
