Crowd-pleasing moments during Vintage Reggae Show

If there was one act whose performance scored highly with the large crowd at Friday night’s Digicel Vintage Reggae Show and Dance, it was that of Shirley Stewart and The Escorts.

The six-member local group has not performed on a national stage for over 30 years and they made their return a memorable one. As the first performers to grace the stage following the disc jockeys’ set, they packed the right punch with hit after hit and took persons at Kensington Oval on a trip down memory lane.

Stewart, who was accompanied by Jack Lee as lead vocals, sang hits like “Six Pence”, “Sylvia’s Mother”, “Half Way To Paradise” and “Never Ending Love”. These and other classics transformed the cricket Mecca to a night club where dancing, singing and enjoying the performances were what patrons opted to do. Like fine silver, they polished off their segment with the classic, “Walk Away From Love” which was particularly welcomed by couples in the audience who held each other closely while dancing during the rendition.

Settling for close seconds in terms of crowd-pleasing performances were seasoned artistes Pluto Shervington and Flourgon. The former entertainer dusted off the classics and specially received loud cheers of approval from the audience when he treated them to songs like “Letter From Miami”, “Ram Goat Liver”, which is 43-years old and “Dancing Mood”.

The latter singer on the other hand opened his set on a high with songs such as “Bad Boy Tune” and “Big Batty Gal” which were well-received by crowd who showed there was no shortage of dance moves. Their enjoyment of his set however came to halt when equipment failure occurred.

The patient crowd then waited for roughly an hour before the situation was fixed. Giving reason for the break, master of ceremonies, Anthony “Admiral” Nelson explained that a massive power failure had destroyed the mixer board.

Flourgon upon his return to the stage blessed the proceeding with songs like “By The Rivers Of Babylon” and “Fly Away Home”. These too were well-received.

Also blessing the crowd through her performance was singer, Marcia Griffith. However, like the performances of Little John, Pinchers, Glen Washington and Erick Donaldson, she did not move the Bajan crowd that much.

Overall, if Friday’s Digicel Vintage Reggae Show and Dance had to be ranked out of ten it would score poorly. A plus however must be given to disc jockeys Dooley Unruley, Alvin Toppin, Lil Rick and Frogg who were able to whip up the crowd and have them in a dancing mood.

Kudos must especially be given to MC Admiral for his excellent crowd management during the unexpected break in the show. The second master of ceremonies on the night was Wayne “Cool” Simmons.