The Digicel Reggae On The Hill at Farley Hill National Park yesterday was one promoter Al Gilkes said was the largest in its ten-year history.
While rain had marred many of the previous shows, yesterday was weather-perfect as tens of thousands travelled to the Hill to soak up conscious vibes as the sun occasionally peeked out from behind clouds.
However, there was a sour note when a fight broke out in the crowd just after 7 p.m., resulting in a two-minute halt to the show.
The Bajan contingent of about 15 acts, with names such as Amber Orano, LRG, Tabitha, King Slimz, Supastar and SupaFrost, warmed up the stage, performing to a crowd that steadily built up from about 1 p.m and was increasing even at 7 p.m. as many who were on the outside saw the vehicles transporting Beres Hammond and Jah Cure entering the venue.
At 3 p.m. the first Jamaican sounded the horn that he was there not to sing, but to perform. Bugle commanded the crowd on his first appearance on the Hill and he did his well-known songs that are on heavy rotation on local airwaves and a couple off his debut album Anointed. He had the crowd eating out of his hand.
The voice that is Tessanne Chin sounded even better live. The crowd loved her first-time performance and she did songs from her The Voice journey, ending with her original Secret Hideaway.
She posed for pictures with fans afterwards as she made way for Chronixx, whose one-hour set had flag-waving patrons surging to the barriers in front the stage. He reeled off tune after tune while the crowd matched him word for word, song for song.
Near to the end of his performance, however, a big fight broke out, sending people running. Up to press time, its cause could not be ascertained.
About 20 minutes earlier, Gilkes, of FAS?Entertainment, promoters of the festival, told the DAILY?NATION that while he had to wait on the VAT Office to know the final numbers, he was seeing one of the biggest crowd for Reggae On The Hill.
“This crowd has pleased me. So far, behaving in true Barbadian fashion to keep the tradition of the festival never having any event marred by violence. It has been incident-free despite the crowd size.
“I know the country is in a recession and a state of depression. For that I said we need to bring the best acts in keeping with our tradition and that’s what we did for the Vintage show Friday night which also had one of the biggest turnout in history, and tonight [yesterday].”
He was also full of praise for the police force, who at that time had reported only minor skirmishes. The Department of Emergency Management personnel also reported a relatively calm day.
Vendors had mixed feelings about sales, as some reported a brisk day while others said it was slow as many patrons walked with their coolers and food pans.
At press time Beres Hammond and headliner Jah Cure were to take the stage to close a tightly-run schedule that was actually ahead of time.
