Entertainment

Capleton and Beenie Man - Deadly pair

BY GERMAINE SMITH, Staff Reporter

Capleton (left) performs alongside Beenie Man at A St. Mary Mi Come From show at Grays Inn Sports Complex, Annotto Bay, St. Mary on Saturday - Roger Chuck

AS THE SUN rose to light up the Gray's Inn Sports Complex in St Mary on Sunday morning, deejays Capleton and Beenie Man placed the lid on an extremely long, yet entertaining, A St Mary Mi Come From stage show.

The annual event, organised by Capleton, was a roller coaster of action and suspense for the thousands of fans who showed up to celebrate with him. Four years ago seeing the two deejays on the same stage was near impossible, but together they rocked Gray's Inn like a deadly pair of dreadlocked twins.

The show had things going for it, but a few glitches threatened to run it right into the ground.

Crowded

For one, the backstage area was allowed to get too crowded. It became so packed that people bundled into every inch of space and prevented the artistes and production team from moving about properly.

Others wreaked further havoc after they stood on the generators and the lights for the stage went out causing approximately a forty-minute delay as technicians tried to sort out the malfunction.

On the positive sides, the St Mary crowd loved the show, and was patient with nearly every act, despite the long running order.

The early acts, who got things started at 10 p.m. warmed up the stage with an early energy that was only replaced towards the later parts of the show. The chief performers at that time included Terror Fabulous, Capitol D, Brahyhan Art and LMJ.

Flourgon, Junior Fearon, Lymie Murray, Lady G, also held their own and by midnight, Mr Perfect rose the heat a notch with his short but fiery set.

Ruffian showed up later, and laced what were probably the lewdest lyrics she could find. It seemed strange though, considering that Mr Perfect had just dropped a barrage of conscious lyrics earlier which found fruit, that the same crowd warmed up just as much to Ruffian's raucous 'sexploits'.

Things boiled down as the crowd grew wearier, and the lights going out at minutes to 2 a.m. did not help.

When things came back on track, it took Cocoa Tea to lift the cloud of gloom and inject some life into the restless crowd. He turned things around completely, getting people up from their make-shift seats on the grass to jump around as he raced through his catalogue.

The singer paved the way for Chuck Fender, who did not drop the momentum either. Bushman levelled things off with a smooth and easy-going set, but weariness fought with the audience. Turbulence and his Higher Trod gang then whipped up another bout of excitement and Lutan Fyah, Anthony Cruz and Angie Angel followed, but the crowd's warmth for them slipped.

They awoke from the slumber again when Macka Diamond stepped out. Though in full black, nothing was mournful about her short set. She even welcomed Captain Barkey and Wickerman who helped blaze the energy level higher with two quick tracks.

Time ticked away, and with Sugar Roy and Conrad Crystal, Culture Knox, Teflon, Polish and Wriston Benji passing quickly, Ninjaman was the next performer to get the audience heated.

He was slow and measured but anything he said was a hit with his hometown crowd. He brought Duckman and Nitty Kutchie to share some of the glory, preparing the audience for Fantan Mojah, who reaped his usual limelight.

Elephant Man and Harry Toddler followed with another high energy set before Beenie Man showed up on stage then was joined by Capleton. Just as their vocals rang out heavily over the microphones, a few rounds blasted just as powerfully into the morning sky, endorsing the move and signalling the upcoming end of the show.