BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – DUBBED the biggest event on the Carnival calendar, Inception Fete 5, ‘Evolve’, lived up to the hype as hundreds flocked the Historic Fort Thomas Hotel to jam at the night-into-day event yesterday (Dec. 27).
Braving the cold Caribbean Sea breeze, patrons were duly entertained by local and regional artistes who set the place alight.
After a later than expected start, the show was opened by the Kore Band from Nevis, which set the trend for what was to come later in the evening, when they belted out some popular songs from Trinidad and Tobago and mixing them with pieces from Sugarmas 42 and 43, such as ‘Love the Festival’.
Even though the band’s performance went down well, the crowd had seemed not to be too interested until at around 2:00 a.m. when popular Trinidad calypsonian David Rudder came on the stage.
From his first rendition, ‘Rally round the West Indies’ Rudder seemed to have awakened the sleeping patrons, who all slowly ‘jigged’ to his songs which are more suited an older audience.
While all attention was placed towards the stage, patrons took the opportunity to fully utilise the free alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages at the bars which were set up around the grounds to refill their Inception cups.
When the time came for Jamaica Dancehall superstar Grace ‘Spice’ Hamilton, the loud cheers from the crowd would have brought down the roof of any indoor facility.
Dressed in a leotard, Spice connected instantly with her enthusiastic fans with her lewd Dancehall performance when she danced and gyrated with several members of the audience.
She invited several individuals to dance alongside her onstage, and those performances were also lewd but it was what everyone has come to expect from the Jamaican performer.
Her performance was however hampered because of the Stage Manager’s unavailability to provide her with a cordless microphone, much to the disgust of the artiste who wanted to go into the crowd and perform.
Kerwin Du Bois soon followed to whip up the crowd with his ever-popular tune ‘Bacchanalist’ which sent the crowd into frenzy.
His performance lasted for just under 20 minutes.
Local bands Kollision and Nu Vybes and reigning Soca Monarchs Mr. Bagnall and Sugar Bowl all performed shortly after 7:00 this morning and patrons partied to the closing of the fete.
Although there was maximum security on hand, several fights broke out and arrests were made by members of the Delta Squad and the Defence Force, but this publication was not aware if anyone were injured or if charges were laid against those arrested.
The event continued all the way to mid-morning but not without hiccups, as many patrons complained that the bars had run out of cups.
