Short sets but good music
New Year’s Eve’s staging of Tru Juice Sound Di Alarm music festival attracted a large turnout of patrons from the market town of Linstead and other neighbouring communities.
The charity event is the brainchild of reggae singer and Linstead native Iba Mahr.
The event had a stellar line-up, but lack of proper time management caused some of dancehall and reggae’s highly anticipated acts to get very little time on stage.
Luciano’s set was rushed, and before he could divert into some of his best hits, he was joined by Junior Reid and Capelton, who also had short stints.
However, the last 30 minutes belonged to Popcaan and friends. When his voice emerged over the microphone, his female fans huddled closer to the stage.
The women gyrated and the males saluted as he delivered songs like Bad Inna Real Life, A We Run The Town, El Chapo, and Nuh Bad Like We.
HORNS AND WHISTLES
With time stacked against them, the entertainer opted to share his set with Sizzla Kalonji, Junior Reid, Junior Demus, Iba Mahr, Sean Kingston, and several others, who all brought ‘the fire’ to the chilly Linstead morning.
When Rastafarian singjay I Wayne graced the stage earlier, aerosol spray torches were ignited and the symphony of horns and whistles was almost deafening.
Like most of the other entertainers he lashed out at oral sex, a burning topic made popular again recently by L.A. Lewis.
He also thrilled his fans with Book Of Life, Living In Love, Lava Ground and Can’t Satisfy Her.
Nesbeth, Chuck Fenda, Turbulence, Lutan Fyah, Bugle, and Deep Jahi also gave a good musical account of themselves.
The main mission of the event was not about the live entertainment, but to generate much-needed funds for the Linstead Hospital, which serves St Catherine, Clarendon, St Ann, and St Mary.
Proceeds will go directly towards the hospital, which is in dire need of medical equipment.