Bashment time in St Lucy . . . Food, rum and plenty soca

Folks in St Lucy and the north were treated to a special out-of-season Food and Rum Festival pop up as well as a Cou Cou and Kaiso Bajarama. The two events, which ran from 3 p.m. till close to midnight last Saturday, were part of the We Gatherin’ 2020 activities.

Patrons gathered on the Lords Cricket Grounds at Lowlands, St Lucy, enjoyed the best in culinary delights from some of the island’s top chefs and got a chance to participate in the rum drinking competition. And when those festivities ended around 6 p.m., the real party began.

The entertainment started with home-grown St Lucy group Round Rock Band. They were followed by a Q in The Community session led by DJ Radar. He took them on a musical journey with hit songs from Jimmy Cliff, John Holt, Ernie Smith and other legends. Then there was the popular line-dancing session where patrons joined in the fun.

When DJ Radar was done, Izavybe and Trumpetboyz made merry with their band of musicians. The group was infectious as they made their way around the playing field. They played a medley of soca songs inclusive of local music as well as a few from Trinidad. The sweet sounds of Give It to Ya, Volcano, Ramgoat, Breathe, Sometime, Party of the Year, Roll It and many others echoed through the quiet district.

Things certainly started to warm up, and the pace began to increase. Former calypso monarch Serenader sang Juck Fuh Juck and Breakdown to further warm up the crowd for what was to come next.

Soca Junkie Mr Dale gave an energetic performance during his time on stage. He sang Fetulous, Nuttin Sweetah, Soca Junkie and Drop It.

It was bashment time afterwards with the two-time king Stiffy coming on first and then his old time singing partner Jagwa De Champ.

Songbird Nikita switched the vibe back to soca when she hit the stage with her 2017 hit Carry Festival. She also sang Going Distance and Same Way.

It was pace from then till the end as the last three acts all had the crowd rocking. Hypasounds hit stage around 10:30 p.m. to the music of his song Get Up and Move. And some folks in the crowd who were sitting in their fold-up chairs did just that. He then sang Sugar Rush, How She like it and Dip before ending with 2019 mega hit Fair Sa.

Up next was the Soca General Edwin Yearwood. His was 20 minutes of pure energy and hype. From start to finish, the crowd was rocking as he sang Chrissening, Yardie, Home Sweet Home, Whole Night Long, Pump Me Up, Wet Me and Sweatin. A man made his way to the front of the stage to request Sugar Cane and Edwin obliged, signing it acapella. He then ended his set with Sak Pase as the crowd obeyed his every command.

The island’s first-ever Soca Monarch Mikey ended the night of jam-packed entertainment. He sang Enjoy Meh Life, Roll It, Feting Family and ended with Action Time. During Feting Family, a patron made his way on stage to “help” him sing. The guy who identified himself as Big Tone, took the mic from Mikey and told those partying: “If yuh old or young… grab somebody even if it is a stranger. Stop playing partial and grab somebody… Everybody is one… We are one big feting family” and proceeded to sing the chorus with Mikey. (IMC)