Richard Morais, STAR Writer

Guest of honour Usain dancing with dancer Mystic. - Richard morais photos

western bureau

What should have been a simple homecoming celebration for Usain Bolt surpassed all expectations to set the record for one of the largest mass gatherings in Trelawny.

The thousands eclipsed the 45,000 record set in Falmouth for the Trelawny Cricket World Cup concert. The event was held at the William Knibb Memorial High School last Saturday.

With a weather system sending rain earlier in the day, at the proposed eight o'clock start things looked dismal. However, two hours later, the massive event took shape.

Breaking barriers

The nature of the event, the celebration of the homecoming of the multi-Olympic gold medallist and world-record holder Usain Bolt, broke all the barriers as some persons who attended would not have been caught dead at a similar event with the same artistes, but came out nonetheless for the newest international superstar.

The highlight of the event was the guest of honour, an unapologetic dancehall fan, who took the dance floor with Ravers Clavers to rapturous cheers from the crowd. He also took the floor with his dancehall mentor Mystic to loud cheers.

It was a day when the stars came out to play and they shone brightly. Diamond album-selling artiste Shaggy, along with the vocal backing of Rik Rok, could do nothing wrong and reeled off some of his hits to keep the crowd rocking.

Kiprich was awesome, as while he does not have the history of hits as some of the others, his wittiness kept the crowd alive.

If she stays on course, D'Angel should soon be breaking into the mainstream international market as her act was professional and without the expected raunchiness which is normal for some women.

There is always a reggae song for any situation in Jamaica and sound system Code Red used this to its advantage.

Code Red had the crowd mesmerised with some topical questions and musical answers. Their swipe at Carl Lewis drew a loud applause.

Richie Spice and Wayne Marshall dished out vintage performances. When the dust settled the thousands who attended were not disappointed.

Bugle was one of several top acts who performed at the Hart Hill Usain Bolt Homecoming concert.

Kingston-based group RDX entertaining the audience.

Upcoming act Timberlee showed her 'hot gal' personality. - noel thompson

Members of the Unstoppable Production team backstage at the Hart Hill Usain Bolt Homecoming concert. From left are rapper 'CY', singer of Open Your Eyes and See Why, Alan Ranks, manager of the production team, DJ Ganja Lee, singer of 'Nine Green Lime' and a friend. - noel thompson