WINSTON SILL/FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER
Lima performs at the Supreme Ventures Jamaica Carnival Fête and Show, held at Chukka Cove, St. Ann on Sunday March 27, 2005.
Nathelie Taylor, Gleaner Writer
The 'meeting place' came alive once more last Sunday night as hundreds poured into Chukka Cove, St. Ann for one of the biggest soca parties of the season.
Both young and old crammed the field to experience what turned out to be a fun night filled with music of all kinds including reggae, dancehall, hip hop and of course the great attraction the sweet stirrings of soca. When not rocking to selections by the Peter Phillips Disco, patrons were treated to ample doses of each genre by the various bands Byron Lee and the Dragonnaires, Imij and Company and Blue Ventures; guest artistes Lima and Pluto Shervington; and the Party Animal, Kurt Riley.
Imij and Company from Trinidad especially impressed. Coming from a rousing performance the previous night at Beach J'ouvert held at the James Bond Beach in St. Mary, the band held nothing back in their charged one hour delivery.
They had the crowd doing everything they asked, without delay, without fail. As Imij went through the repertoire of this
season's hottest soca tracks like Hook, Kings Of The Land, Nookie and Ease The Tension patrons followed their instructions with rapt attention and
willing and able bodies.
Their interaction with patrons was not stage-restricted however. After urging a self-elected soca marshall to part the crowd, a band member then went right in the thick of things, swirling up a cloud of frantically waving rags and jumping soca fanatics with his own energy. As a finale, he placed an impromptu kiss on the cheek of one female who dipped in pleasant surprise.
groovy reggae retro feel
Pluto Shervington brought a groovy reggae retro feel to the party. While he mainly fed the appetites of the 'older' patrons, Shervington held an appeal for the younger ones as well who sang just as robustly to hits like Dat Ting Dere, Manish Water (Ram Goat Liver) and Sweet Jamaica (I Man Born Yah), the lyrics of the latter seeming a bit ironic since Shervington himself now lives in Miami.
But, it wasn't all fun for some.
Riley's roar, for instance, was a bit silenced. Usually, one to get a crowd in a mad, raving party mood, the animal had to settle for a late and mediocre response from the crowd. Patrons seemed estactic when he came on stage, and his blazing recorded intro promised a set that would have had them screaming for more.
He seemed to have been doing everything right, playing all the new, and by now familiar, tunes like Water, Ease The Tension and Dead or Alive. Yet, the bait wasn't catching. Except for a few mild movements, patrons were inexplicably stiff. They seemed more interested in the antics of the production crew in front of the stage.
Older songs
Riley then shifted gears,
spewing out the older songs like Le Le Le and Jump. The spell was broken and Riley finally had them just where he wanted as he fed them other hits like Love and Unity and Faluma.
He returned in true form some time later, delivering a sizzling dancehall segment alongside the Peter Phillips Disco.
Later on, patrons got frustrated with their water-throwing
fellows. Songs like I Feeling Hot and Water were an invitation to many to start throwing water in a haphazard manner.
"Dem caan encourage dem slackness deh!" one patron shouted.
"Dem fi stop fling dem mout' water pon wi!" another screamed. It wasn't until it started affecting performers on stage that organisers stepped in and Jerry D requested that the
activity cease.
Water incidents and other hiccups aside, Chukka Cove proved once again to be the ultimate meeting place for soca fans.
