Those who braved the sun yesterday to be there at the start of the second to last day of the St Lucia Jazz Festival and Arts show at Pigeon Island were, from early, treated to stiltwalkers, carnival costumes, arts and crafts and a diverse lineup on stage.Â
Yesterday the performances came from Tito Puente Jr who excited the crowd with his latin music and the orchestra was phenominal, especially the duel between the two drummers near the end.
The Tony Award winning Tony Allen with the FELA dancers was a nice Afro-centric mix and the dancers thrilled the crowd with their sensual, exotic movements. The sole female singer in the band was excellent in voice. Robbie Greenidge and band had the crowd enjoying some fantastic pan and it got even better when they were joined on stage by David Rudder who, while he didn’t sing Rally Round The West Indies, had the whole crowd rallying around him while he performed.
The Trinidadians in the crowd surged tot he front of the stage to put on their own type of feting, with flags in hand. Luther Francois Calypso Projections was enjoyable as the first act of the night.
Akon, the show closer, while he lipsynced the twenty song set, had the crowd in the palm of his hand with mothers and grandmothers and children under the age of twelve singing his every song – even the ones that were not sutied for them. He then put himself, the crowd, and the security guards in perilous situtations when he spent almost 15 minutes in the crowd which kept pulling, tugging and trying to touch him inappropriately.
He did promise it would be “madness” but it was more chaotic and dangerous.
The show climaxes today with the O’Jays, R. Kelly Brian Culbertson and Ronald ‘Boo’ Hinkson and Emrand Henry.
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