Krista Henry, Staff Reporter

These patrons were seen having a good time at a previously held 'Rhythm and Booze'. - File

For 10 minutes last Saturday night, there was musical silence at 'Rhythm and Booze' as the police took control of the party. However, not even that could break the vibe of the huge crowd at Curphey Place.

At 1:30 a.m. when Renaissance was in the middle of building a set, police entered the stage as Bugle's Exercise was making waves. The song immediately ended. The selector explained "listen people there are people blocking the road. These officers seh no more music until unnu move your cars!" Loud chatter ensued from the crowd as they walked about and clapped to show their displeasure. Some angry patrons cried to the selectors, "di car dem move man, play a tune!"

After 10 minutes, peace reigned and the music resumed. The party began again full swing as if no interruption had occurred. Prior to the disturbance, almost every part of the venue was crammed with patrons as music thumped from the speakers.

Renaissance got things going with DJ Christoff hitting tunes from Munga, Busy Signal's These Are The Days, Fallen Soldiers and Doh which struck a chord with the crowd who jumped up and danced along.

Frisky patrons

Code Red were next on the turntable and they began with a bang playing a special dub made for Rhythm and Booze from Vybz Kartel, then went into rock music with One Republic's Apologise, Alicia Keys' No One and 50 Cent's Ayo Technology. Code Red's Chris Diamond and DJ Rush soon had the women gyrating in their skimpy attire. They 'walked out' to the call of being 'Goodaz' and got frisky when the men hoisted them in the air while others rubbed together on the floor. The men were soon sweating and looked tired as their female partners continued to bend their backs to the music.

Gangster tunes

After a succession of hit songs from Code Red, Coppershot kept the vibe going strong and changed the pace with a slew of gangster tunes. DJ Smallvoice and ZJ Ice soon had the gun fingers of the patrons in the air as they played a slew of Mavado hits, Spragga talked about 'his order' and Busy burnt those who dwelt on the 'borderline'. It was Bounty Killer's Nuh Fren Fish that got an explosive response of 'forwards' from the crowd.

Coppershot soon changed the pace as the atmosphere became sexually charged. Beenie Man had the women 'backing it up' as one woman at the front exposed most of her flesh. Another heavily built woman had her male partner pinned to the floor as another male 'dropped dead' on top of her to the delight of persons around them.

After a short but effective set from Coppershot, DJ Smurf took over with soca not all patrons welcomed the change. It was soon back to dancehall as, even up to 4:00 a.m., the crowd at Curphey Place seemed unwilling to leave when the STAR/Gleaner was leaving the venue. Rhythm and Booze was an obvious success.