Hague Agricultural Show gets a sprinkling of dancehall

Richard Morais, Gleaner Writer

HAGUE, Trelawny:

Scintillating performances marked the 57th renewal of the Hague Agricultural Show's entertainment package on Ash Wednesday.

So good were the performances that patrons were of the view that the show was the best in years.

Upcoming artiste Cris Opolis, Gentile, and Singing Bird delivered commanding performances of the unadulterated reggae, which propelled the nation into worldwide entertainment fame. Some patrons even commented that with young talent like these the nation can once again take pride of place in entertainment globally.

Cris Opolis and Gentile, while doing some new and original stuff, were very good when covering the music of performers like Luciano and Junior Gong.

Tremendous uproar

The very talented Singing Bird went for cover versions of some of the nation's hits and did comparable, if not better, than some of the originals. His rendition of Amazing Grace got a tremendous uproar.

Bounty Killer, who suffered the loss of his mother, Miss Ivy Williams, on Sunday, was awesome.

During his performance, he encouraged the predominantly teenage audience to develop the brain and to avoid 'bad company'.

Bounty effectively debunked the myth that youth only respond to smut by DJs, and according to an adult patron, "He has the power and popularity to detox the nation of the filth being dished out by some DJs".

Energetic sets

Tanto Blacks and Khago lived up to their billing and delivered energetic sets. The former had very witty interactions with the audience, which hung on his every move.

Khago called on a slew of hits, much to the crowd's delight, as did Wayne Marshall.

Marshall returned to the stage for a collaboration with Bounty Killer which was also well received.

Local act, the Falmouth-based Mad Alien continues to knock on the mainstream door and gave it a jolt which could force the lock open soon.

They say a king enjoys no favour in his hometown, but Mad Alien tore the place down.

Can emcees steal shows? This may not be possible but Apache and Freeman kept the show lively and could be ranked among the top performances.