Full marks

It was a 100 per cent Bajan cast, 100 per cent top-quality entertainment, 100 per cent laughs and 100 per cent entertainment when MADD staged its annual Crop Over show at the Wildey Gymnasium, Wednesday night.

The gym was packed to capacity as the patrons clearly enjoyed a full cast which included comedy, and also saw the crème de la creme of the season, all on one stage. It was six hours of fully loaded entertainment.

The first half was full of comedy and wit thanks to the likes of Rum & Coke with their skit on how to become a millionaire. They left the crowd in stitches.

Archiebull Cox and Peter Ram teamed up for their funny but still serious song Go Long and Leave Me which deals with the current crime situation.

Then there was De Announcer whose controversial Reading For Pleasure earned him not one but two encores. Shawnie was the other person to receive an encore as well.

Classic’s One Song gave patrons a taste of what to expect tonight during the Pic O De Crop finals at the Kensington Oval.

The older folks in the crowd had a session all for themselves. De Devil, Serenader and Observer took them on a musical journey with favourites such as Break Down, Juck fuh Juck and Cat Attack.

Grynner was in ripping form doing four songs as he left the people “bawling for more”.

Ras Iley’s Spring Garden on Fire had the crowd in a frenzy with their hands in the air. One woman stood to her feet and began to dance as she could not contain herself.

Edwin the General opened the second half with a huge Mexican Wave which caused everyone to stand to their feet and put their hands in the air. He sang Yardie, Wet Me and Sak Pase. However, Groundation is the song that threatened to shake the foundation at the gym.

He was followed by RPB who sang Once Upon, Alive and the infectious Boat Ride. By this time, more people had congregated in front of the stage to shake a leg.

Newcomer Mara Rose was impressive and highly entertaining as she danced with a guy who she said “can handle it.” Mole, Marzville, Sk, and King Bubba took care of the bashment soca mix.

Groovy soca came from Just D with Manager, No Bad Vibe, Down In a Hole and this year’s So What. Leadpipe and Saddis too rocked the gym with some of their hits Ah Feeling Ah Feeling, Ben Up and Wuk It Good as people waited anxiously for the very popular Sometime.

Hypasounds hit the stage to the music of his 2017 song Dip. But it was clearly Fair Sa that the crowd appeared to be waiting on from him.

Emcee KB Kleen, who did a great job throughout the night, apologised for the absence of Mr Crop Over, Lil Rick.

The night came to a close with newly crowned Soca Monarch Mikey asking the Feteing Family to come together for Action Time Again. He rocked the gym as the crowd followed his every instruction.

MADD Entertainment should take a bow for producing such a top-notch show with an all Bajan cast. The fact too that the Gym was packed to capacity should cause the powers that be to engage private promoters more. It is clear that way more planning, promotion and execution went into this show than some of those on the National Cultural Foundation’s calendar of events. (IMC)

Disclaimer: Barbados TODAY cannot fully capture what transpired at Bacchanal Time and the Best of Crop Over.  That’s because space, time and words are all constrained.