By Teino Evans, Staff Reporter
Carnival revellers in full swing at Supreme Ventures Ja Carnival in St. Elizabeth on Saturday.
- Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer
THE PARISH of St. Elizabeth was given a taste of the soca madness, as Supreme Ventures Jamaica Carnival staged their blowout at Junction in 'St. Bess' on Saturday night.
The atmosphere was full of excitement and anticipation, as patrons turned out in large droves to enjoy a piece of the soca action.
At about 10 p.m. most of the patrons at the Junction Plaza, the venue for the event, were still on the outside, apparently, waiting on things to heat up before spending their money. In the meantime, it was early juggling on the inside with Beatle Juice and the Night Trax disco. They played tunes like Casanova and This Magic Moment to the few patrons who were on the inside.
Things, however, spiced up a bit when Jerry D took to the stage as the MC for the night. "If uno love 'St. Bess', mek mi si yuh put yuh hand inna di air," he shouted, as he welcomed everybody and got the show on the road.
They wasted no time in getting the action started as Byron Lee and the Dragonaires took to the stage at some minutes to eleven. The band, which featured Oscar B, Jumo and Keisha, kicked things off with the song, I Want Yuh Come A Little Closer. As Oscar B introduced the song, he demanded that "all di ugly people go to di back and di good looking ones come to di front."
PERFORMANCE
Then the band broke into an energy filled performance for the next hour or more, doing songs like Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot, Wine Down and Touch Your Toes, Jump Up and Bonnie and Clyde.
Adding to the attraction was a big screen projector that was set up towards the front of the venue, and this displayed patrons getting down.
As the band performed hit after hit, the crowd thickened towards the stage, and it didn't take long for the entire venue to become filled to capacity. Oscar B, Jumo and Keisha, made no qualms about getting the crowd involved, as they sought to teach patrons a couple new dances that they came up with.
"Da one yah name walk like a duppy," Oscar B shouted, as he instructed patrons to 'hold their hands forward, mek up dem face and walk shakily in a straight line'. Then they demonstrated a second dance called the Crazy Man Dance, which required patrons to "move left, then right, then jump
up and down and bounce people like yuh mad," and the crowd, in following their instructions, went wild.
INSTRUCTION
When the band, however, did another of their popular songs, Soca Train, patrons needed no instructions for this one, as they immediately assumed the position and formed a soca train around the venue. With women in front and men behind, the train went around the venue, but soon broke up when Keisha changed gears and did Passe, another popular soca song. After the band did their slate of songs, they showed the crowd just how versatile they were, as they did a few renditions from a Jamaican collection of reggae songs, including, Down By The River by Morgan Heritage and a few Beres Hammond selections. The band did not stop there, though, as Oscar B, wrapped things up by doing a few of Beenie Man's songs, among them, Ole dog and Nuff gyal.
The band then left the stage and the selectors took over on the turntables, spinning some of dancehall's hottest tunes. Just when patrons may have thought the party was coming to a close, Byron Lee and the Dragonaires returned to the stage at 2 a.m., and gave the 'St. Bess' patrons a blast from the past. The band did old soca/calypso favourites like, Butterfly, It's Carnival and Dolla Wine.
Indeed it was an all night party in the parish of 'St. Bess' as the Sumpreme Ventures Jamaica Carnival blowout continued until after 3 a.m. in the morning.
