By Chaos, Freelance Writer
Patrons having a wild time at 'Stages' last Saturday night at Wavz, Negril in Westmoreland. - Michael Sloley /Freelance Photographer
WINE, WOMEN and song was the name of the game and for quite a number of people and things will never be the same after the 'ultra-inclusive' party 'Stages', held last Saturday at Wavz, Negril in Westmoreland.
Bikinis, skin, the tendency to do almost anything; music, laughter and the odd need to sing along to almost everything could describe the party, which was another in the Appleton Temptation Isle series of events parties which took place on an almost 24-hour basis over four days in the tourist hot spot.
'Stages' was due to start at 4 p.m. but this is Jamaica, the land where almost nothing starts on time, nor is expected to. The Gleaner arrived circa 5:30 p.m. to find preparations still in full swing and a small number of patrons lining up to sample the roast breadfruit, ackee and salt fish, fricasseed fish, mannish water, hot dogs, hamburgers and samples of various fruits which were all available. Two bars were still being stocked, young men sweating as they hauled crates of various sodas and liquor to and fro.
This looked like it was going to be fun.
Lisa Lisa and the Cult Jam's I Need You Tonight began to throb from one set of speakers, a clarion call to prospective patrons which another set of speakers soon took up, and then another. On and on it went until the music felt like it wanted to crawl under your skin.
Earlier in the day there was evidence that 'Stages' would be packed, since the outlet The Gleaner visited had run out of tickets and there was no lack of willing patrons already dressed for fun on the sand. Within an hour, this was proved true, with a steady stream of shorts and bikini-clad patrons making its way through the gates, complimentary Appleton mini-towels and mugs clutched firmly in hand.
Soon the line for food stretched its way enormously, while mayhem was the name of the game at the two bars, orders for drinks being shouted in an ever-clamorous din to a group of bartenders who impressed with their ability to remain relatively calm under pressure.
Renegade, Renaissance, Kurt Riley and later, Black Chiney, were at turns in control at the wheels of steel and wasted no time making the venue pulsate with a mixture of throbbing bass beats from a number of genres. Men walked with eyes agape, stunned by the display of feminine pulchritude which was gleefully put on display. Everyone was there the good, the fat and the ugly. No one was complaining.
Soon, as dusk fell and darkness arrived, Wavz was filled with pulsating green as promotional items from the manufacturers of the Kool menthol cigarette line blinked green on and off.
On and off.
On and off.
Eventually faux ice cubes, plastic pendants, pens and swizzle sticks, all blinking green, inducing a gamma-like haze that would have done the Incredible Hulk proud, were hot property. When the goodies ran out at the official outlets, soon the items were being begged, borrowed or stolen, the glow of green being transferred from pocket to pocket or mug to mug with almost gleeful abandon.
Interestingly, an enclosed, tented area which The Gleanerwas earlier told was meant to be a marketing area, evidently for Kool cigarettes, evidently abandoned that idea and became a 'V.I.P' drinking area of sorts, serving Appleton-based drinks such as the 'Caribbean Sea' very good for the record 'Peach on the Beach' and the 'Appletini' to the increasingly-inebriated patrons who were lucky enough to gain entrance, putting two over-worked bartenders under increasing stress.
On the outside, as the 2 a.m. scheduled shut-off time drew closer and the sky ever-darker, Henekein, Smirnoff Ice and the like ran out and were replaced with some degree of regularity, people drank more and forgot themselves and Black Chiney took over the controls. With a set consisting mostly of remixes and dub plates, they tore the place apart as Stages got crazier by the minute until patrons eventually made their way, unsteadily, through the gates to either the Jungle Night-club or the after-party at Rick's Café, satiated.
Stages was a blast.
