Digicel starts Christmas with big concert

"Mi never see nuttn like dis yet!" said Digicel Christmas Concert patron Joan Davis who was still standing in awe at what she called "the concert of the year" on Thursday. "When Digicel promise fi gi yuh some ting, dem don't stop till dem give you!" she continued.

The highly anticipated Digicel Christmas Concert, held at the National Stadium parking lot on Thursday evening, went above and beyond both the patrons' and the artistes' expectations.

Pulling a massive crowd, the concert, which promised to deliver exciting family entertainment to the loyal Digicel customers, held up their end of the bargain with performances from Grammy-nominated, international gospel artiste Tye Tribbett, reggae gospel minister, Carlene Davis; the widely popular Digicel Rising Star winner Romain Virgo; popular local gospel artiste and Digicel Brand Ambassador Jermaine Edwards; and the 2011 Digicel Rising Stars Top Three winners: Tash, Latty J and Delando Colley.

When the concert's hosts, Tommy Cowan and Miss Kitty welcomed patrons, neither they nor the crowd knew just how memorable the evening would turn out to be.

The 2011 Digicel Rising Stars Top three were the first to perform, warming up the crowd with some of the same hits they had Jamaica glued to their television sets with this summer. Delando Colley had the crowd singing along to Justin Beiber's Never Say Never, young Michael Jackson's I want You Back, and Chris Brown's This Christmas.

The talented Latty J took the stage next, moving the audience with performances of 80's lover rock hit, I Want to Know What Love Is, and her own jazzed-up version of the Christmas classic, Joy to World.

Then Digicel Rising Star 2011 winner Tash was up next, performing hits like Jamaican gospel anthem Daddy-O, Alicia Keys' Fallin', Beyoncé and Lady Gaga's Telephone, and her own sultry version of Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas.

energetic set

Jermiane Edwards, who was up next, started his set with the upbeat and powerful Oh Holy Night, and was quickly joined on stage by fellow Island Worship Artiste Rondell Positive for their collaboration God is a Good God. Edwards and his team of equally talented supporting vocalists then continued to bless the crowd with gospel hits like, Keep My Mind on You, In My Life, Wise Up, Make You Smile, and the immensely popular Nah Bow, which usually features fellow gospel artistes DJ Nicholas and Kevin Downswell. Edwards and his team then closed off their energetic set with a humbling version of the traditional Christmas Carol, Oh Come Let Us Adore Him.

Taking the stage next, with over three decades of gospel hits was Carlene Davis. She went straight into her energetic set with groundbreaking Jamaican gospel hits like Hand Full of Salt, Rivers of Babylon, Nobody Greater, Nothing but the Blood and This Island Needs Jesus. By the time she got to Days of Elijah, the crowd had already worked up a sweat, jumping and waving with her in the name of the Most High. Crowd favourite, Santa Claus Do You Ever Come to the Ghetto, had the audience singing along loudly, and slowed down her tempo enough for her to end her set with the carol Silent Night.

The soaring Digicel Rising Star-turned international artiste, Romain Virgo performed next. Though not a gospel artiste, Virgo's conscious songs: Cyaan Sleep, Live Mi Life, Who feels it knows it, Taking You Home, Rich In Love and System (Feel Like Letting Go) were excellently received by the crowd, who sang along.

"It was very good, especially the reception from the crowd. I wasn't expecting that crowd reaction. It just shows that when you sing positive music, people will always gravitate. This really was a nice way to start the Christmas season" the artiste said backstage, after his performance.

Tye takes the stage

After a quick band change, the concert headliner, Grammy-nominated, internationally acclaimed gospel extraordinaire, Tye Tribbett took to the stage and made sure that Digicel's Christmas concert would be one for the history books.

His highly energetic set which included hits like Bless the Lord, No Way, Everything, and Son of Man, had the crowd in a frenzy. By the time he and his supporting vocalists, Greater Anointing, got to the song, So Amazing, the crowd was singing along with them and jumping and waving.

Other hits like Glory to God Forever, Champion, You are the Most High God, No Other Choice, and Still Have Joy rocked the crowd even further and had them literally begging for more. As an encore, Tye finally sang his last song and biggest hit to date, Victory. The crowd reception to Victory was like none seen before, it ultimately caused the concert to end on a high note.

"It was wonderful. I love Jamaica and I can't wait to come back," said Tribbett after his set.

For Carlene Davis, "It was a tremendous blessing; I mean the people were really enjoying themselves. They came out very expectant, and the artistes delivered, we all delivered. It was an amazing night, and I know Jamaica will never be the same because of this Digicel Christmas Concert, it can only get better and better and better."

Digicel Sponsorship Manager Paula Pinnock-McLeod said the concert was a resounding success: "It was a very, very well attended concert. We knew it would be big, we anticipated 20,000 people to come, and they showed up! And Tye Tribbett gave a brilliant performance. All the artistes on stage were excellent. The reception from the crowd was excellent, we are very pleased. This is the perfect way for us to start Christmas!"

Apart from being a fun, memorable, family event, the major telecommunications company promised that it was also going to be safe. In keeping with their promise, the police securing the event reported after that it was incident-free, with one officer saying, "I wish all events were like this."