BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE reigning King of the Tents, King Rockafella, did not perform in the recently held Tent Eliminations, much to the disappointment of his fans, and he was unmoved by sentiments of his critics.
Calypso Reggie, during his remarks last night (Nov. 9) at the final Tent Elimination, made it publicly-known that King Rockafella would not be performing because he did not apologise to him in his capacity as the Emcee, following the damaged microphone incident.
Apparently, Calypso Reggie felt the need to address the matter following queries from some members of the audience on whether or not King Rockafella would have been performing.
At the first Elimination Tent held at De Nitery on the previous night (Nov. 8), King Rockafella indicated that he had something to say, and when invited onstage by Claypso Reggie he stated: “First of all I would like to apologise to my manager Suzie. I would also like to apologise to my fans and some members of the band and not the Emcee.”
King Rockafella gave his apology during the band change over from the Legends Kaiso to Proud Sounds following the first round.
It was expected that he would have replaced the damaged microphone, as he had been given the ultimatum to do by management of the Proud Sound Calypso Tent.
Similarly, like last night, Calypso Reggie highlighted that King Rockafella does not understand the role of an emcee, who is the Master of Ceremonies at an event.
The incident in question occurred on Sunday (Dec. 2) at 17 Degrees during a clash of the two calypso tents.
In a December 5-dated article, King Rockafella, in relating the incident said: “What happened is that I was there singing, and when I look back the trombone guy, the guy who blows the trombone who takes part in the Carnival activity also; he is a calypsonian also and he there laughing and giggling and he throw me off. I look back and see him and he pay me no mind. He continued, so I just pitch down de mic and walk off.”
According to the trombonist, he was laughing but not at the entertainer. He explained that some of the band members were sharing a joke among themselves.
Allegedly, King Rockafella forgot the lines to his song. He was on the third verse of his ‘Land For Sale’ song.
Other calypsonians who did not perform in the final Elimination were Queen Anastasia (due to an illness) and Ayatollah (due to an alleged case of intoxication).
