Kes and the Band close Bacchanal Fridays with a flourish

Hasani Walters, Gleaner Writer

A fitting farewell to Bachannal Fridays was delivered in superb fashion last Friday night with a curtain-closing performance by Trinidad's Kes the Band and Nadia Batson, who gave patrons full value.

By midnight, Mas Camp was approximately three-quarters full, with only a few empty spaces to the back and patrons still streaming in through the gate.

In control of the night, Digicel got the show under way showcasing their Ming Dynasty theme through a display of a white dragon and swordsmen.

The night proved to be good and at its end Paula Pinnock-Macleod, Digicel's sponsorship manager, told The Gleaner, "It was absolutely phenomenal. It's one thing to actually have a plan in your head and how you want something executed, but it's a whole other dimension when you actually see it come together. I think tonight was absolutely fabulous; the crowd response to our surprise performer Busy Signal, to Kes the Band and Nadia Batson was great."

She said Digicel has had a very successful bacchanal thus far and they were very pleased with the night's turnout.

Earlier, Busy Signal 'christened' the stage, as he warmed up the place with both dancehall and soca songs.

Clad in red, white and black, he began his set with Touch De Road before asking females to turn and twist in Woeii Gal Woeii.

The crowd seemed to not be fully in tune with his soca selections, however, as it was not until Picante that they began to get into the groove and he seemed to have control.

"All ma sexy ladies, scream!" he shouted.

And they did.

With one foot on a speaker, he went into Gal Bounce, his remix for We Speak No Americano with hand and body movements to the song's beat.

"All a di gal dem from Kingston weh nuh seize up, wine yuh body!" he shouted while singing.

In Pon Me which was his next song, the ladies executed those instructions before he told them to Get Outta My Way.

The last song he performed was Caan Buy Mi Out, before he hurriedly exited the stage.

impromptu competition

He did well in warming up the crowd, getting them ready for the night's anticipated act - one of Trinidad's finest - Kes the Band.

Females dancing onstage to soca music marked their introduction to the stage.

Dressed in a red jacket with black pants and shoes with a white rag hanging from his back pocket, the entertainment began as soon as Kes entered the stage.

He wasted no time in sharing his Wotless energy with patrons.

Waving his hands continually in a circular motion he asked, "What Jamaica say?"

He soon had everybody waving; an energetic start to what was a good set.

He rolled Thunder throughout the venue and told patrons to "put a wine on somebody, jam down on somebody".

He asked "which posse can gwaan badda?" before starting an impromptu competition between those in VIP and the audience in the general area of the venue.

By now, Kes was sweating profusely.

He did Machel Montana and Lil Rick's Guh Dung Remix, before pausing to tell patrons that he wanted to see more bacchanal than that.

He cut the song short and issued another challenge, but this time it was for the men.

"All the ladies, jump on a man shoulder!" he shouted.

The challenge was for men to 'guh dung' with a lady on their shoulders.

He began to sing again as couples took up the task.

He then proceeded to fulfil one thing on his to-do list in Jamaica - get a wine.

He asked to be joined onstage by a 'big ting', a 'small ting', a 'tall ting' and a 'short ting'.

Only two 'medium tings' had the bravado Kes needed. The smaller number made for no less excitement as the two gyrated on Kes in a show of who could do the 'ting' better.

A few minutes later, Kes was on the floor.

A 'big ting' had him pinned as she sat on him doing her 'ting'.

He eventually got up and did the unthinkable; he lifted the 'big ting' around his waist and began to dance with her.

He took patrons through another set of jumping and waving.

By now he was shirtless, still clutching his bandana and still prancing about to Wotless.

He was later joined onstage by Tessanne Chin for Loving You before Nadia Batson, shining in silver and black, came to the stage declaring, "Han' in the air!"

Batson told the ladies to "wine up and grab a man" and before singing Lighters, asked for a show of lighters in the air.

Joined by Kes and his dancers Batson did Machel Montana's Advantage, then Iwer George's Come To Meh and JW and Blaze's Palance. The crowd seemed to love their version as much as the original.

That was not Kes' last time up however, as at the request of the audience he was called back to the stage to perform Wotless.

"I love the vibe, I had a really good time," said Kes.

"Jamaica is the only place in the Caribbean where I would want to live apart from Trinidad."

"I enjoy performing in Jamaica because it feels a lot like Trinidad, they spice up the carnival season. And you guys really know how to enjoy yourself, you run, you wave, you jump, you have a really good time," said Batson.