By Adrian Frater, News Editor

Left: Munga Honourable delivering his share of hits at the Westmoreland Curry Festival held this Sunday at the Mannings High School, Sav-La-Mar. Right: Christopher Martin stood out and earned the sole encore for the night.- Adrian Frater

Western Bureau

After being served a variety of curried dishes, patrons at Sunday's Westmoreland Curry Festival at the Mannings High School, in Savanna-la-mar, got a phenomenal musical dessert that was served up in the form of traditional gospel and pulsating reggae music.

With the dishes of curried crabs, shrimp, tofu and other mixtures out of the way, the jam-packed crowd turned to the main stage where traditional music was served by the Hatfield Cultural Dancers and the Umojah Dancers. Soul-stirring gospel by DJ Nicholas and Prodigal Son and pulsating reggae by the likes of Shane O, Bugle, Jodian Pantry, Christopher Martin and Munga Honourable completed the mix.

Even the other acts such as Simple Steppa, DJ Stacious, House of Leeds rising star Iyahblazz, dancehall King & Queen contestant Mona Lisa and Escapade all did enough to add special flavour to the music that came courtesy of the SANE Band and various sound systems.

The artistes were not the only ones who churned out sweet music as the various radio personalities from the Savanna-la-mar based Links and Vybs FM, which included the likes of DJ Mega Watt, DJ Kentucky, DJ Cool and DJ Champayne kept patrons dancing with a barrage of current dancehall hits, dub plates and pre-releases.

The Umoja Dancers were spectacular.

On traditional music, the Hatfield Dancers were dazzling as they blended colour, lyrics and movement, while the 18-strong Umojah had patrons in awe as their energetic acrobatics and general athleticism were stunning and breath-taking.

Gospel artiste DJ Nicholas was a revelation as both his testimony and his music resonated. He really had the crowd going with songs such as, No War, Waa Go Home, Him A Mi Daddy and Wake. Prodigal Son, the penultimate act, had the crowd going wild in a blazing performance, which featured songs such as, Prodigal Time, I Wish and Run Out.

The reggae entourage not only overshadowed their traditional and gospel counterparts but also left what must be a lasting impression on the patrons. In that regard, former Rising Star Christopher Martin was the undisputed star as he earned the night's only encore after dazzling with songs such as, Jamaican Girl, Giving it right, Driver and his encore choice, Change.

The female deejays Stacious and Mona Lisa left no doubt that the female dancehall artistes are not about to surrender the dancehall to their male counterparts as they both stamped their class, belting out crazy lyrics to the delight of especially the teenage members of the audience.

While playing fairly short sets, the likes of Jodian Pantry, Bugle and Shane-O were impressive in terms of their lyrics and their stagecraft as for them, it was a case of serving up only hits. In fact, had the MCs decided to cooperate, all three would have had encores.

Iyahblazz, a big favourite with fans in Westmoreland, suffered because he and the backing band struggled to find common ground. In the end, he struggled in the delivery of songs such as, Say A Prayer, No Heart', Rasta Fe Clean and the red-hot, Saturday Night at the Movies.

Closing act, Munga Honourable, sealed the night's offering in fine style, belting out hit after hit as the patrons reacted with glee. Songs such as Gansta Ras and Wine Pon It all but brought the house down.

Left: Shane-O delivered a good set.Right: Jodian Pantry would not be outdone as she too delivered a good set.