Teen Fest ­ all about safe sex

Sean Paul performing at Teen Fest - Carlington Wilmot

A LOW turn out and a late start did not stop the artistes at Teen Fest 2001 from trying to educate and encourage the crowd about safe sex on Saturday.

The event, scheduled to start at 10 a.m., didn't get under way until late afternoon.

The stopping and starting of the Coppershot sound system during the day did not help matters. By the time the sound system operators found their groove, patrons had started to leave.

But when the night fell, new patrons came to see the deejays in action. Upcoming acts such as the Potential Crew, Hot Shot Crew, Murdock and his sister, Elicia, and Travis and St. Stephen managed to please the youthful crowd in short spurts.

The acts used original lyrics and crowd interaction to prepare the audience for the bigger acts of the night. But the MC had to reprimand them for their violent lyrics which did not gel well with the 'teen safe sex' theme of the show.

New life came to the audience when the Innocent Crew touched the stage with their hit Impossible Train. Their experiment of mixing Spanish and English in one of their songs had the girls jumping. In between preaching safe sex and making fun of each other they pleased the crowd immensely.

Chicken followed next with Tek A Bway Gal picking up where the Innocent Crew had left off. He wasted no time in his attempt at a new dance and soon he was teaching the audience to Mock Di Mate. He called on members of the Dutty Cup Crew who also tried to continue the hype. In between distributing condoms and churning out lyrics, they encouraged the audience to practice safe sex and deejayed about the dangers of AIDS and other forms of sexually transmitted diseases.

During their performance, Wayne Marshall joined them on stage and immediately the crowd was on fire. Lighters flickered, people danced and others screamed as Marshall performed Bling Bling. Sean Paul, who also joined Marshall, had the crowd in a frenzy. They took the time out in between songs to reinforce the theme of the day. Wayne Marshall was definitely the man of the moment as every time he touched the microphone, the audience went wild. His delivery of Weed Smoke and When The Smoke Clears had the patrons clamouring for more.

The artistes brought the show to an end with a plea for peace.

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