By Kandré McDonald , Freelance WriterGOOD SPIRITS and non-stop revelry were the order of the night last Friday as Bacchanal Jamaica 2004 continued at the Mas Camp Village in New Kingston. The Oxford Road venue was buzzing with patrons from the various age groups who had come out to enjoy themselves and 'get on bad'.
The performers that had the patrons 'getting on bad' bacchanal style were the Traffic Band and Destra out of Trinidad, while rising deejay Assassin was on hand to give a little dancehall flavour to the proceedings. With lights flickering and persons walking through the crowd in togas, the replicated Las Vegas style decor combined with an ancient Roman look in the venue gave testimony to the revelry that was taking place in the venue.
The performance segment of the show got under way some time after midnight when some Roman countrymen 'carried Cleopatra' on-stage to declare the legitimacy of the show and to get the bacchanal mood off to an official start. However, even though the acting Cleopatra was very beautiful, her voice did not seem convincing at all. It was not until MC Francois St. Juste took the microphone and began introducing Assassin that the crowd seem to have really got Cleopatra's intention.
Assassin was energetic throughout his performance. He loosened up the patrons as soon as he got the microphone. Doing songs such as Bad Mine, Roughest, Caan Lock Off The Dance among others. The DJ had the now pumped up crowd singing and dancing along with him.
ENCORE
He then left the stage and was asked to do an encore by the majority of the crowd which did not seem to have got enough of the deejay. He returned, did Girls Gone Wild and with the crowd erupting with each line left the stage midway through the song, allowing the crowd to finish it off.
Assassin was succeeded on- stage by the Traffic Band, which had the crowd, especially the large Trini massive that had now converged on the front of the stage area with their flags revelling almost uncontrollably.
They had some patrons gyrating like crazy as they sometimes engaged the crowd with sexually related gossip. Their dynamic set was enhanced by a dance off between a Trinidadian and a Jamaican girl. The Jamaica representative, who was more brazen than her Trinidadian counterpart, got the full reaction of the crowd when she jumped onto the waistline of Traffic's lead singer and began gyrating wildly. After charming the crowd with a few more soca songs and directed moves, the Traffic Band then showed that they were well rounded by attempting a few Hip Hop and Rap songs. However their true versatility was experienced when they did some dancehall songs, sometimes inserting a few witty lines to get the crowd involved.
They soon made way for the much awaited Destra who graced the stage to roars and a number of bandanas, rags, towels and other materials in the air moving from side to side. She allowed the crowd to do parts of her songs as she awed them with her jiggling waistline that moved like teased jello.
Destra's performance was a bit shorter than expected and she left the stage shortly after 2 a.m., the cut off time. However, this did not hinder the crowd at Mas Camp from enjoying themselves, her performance and a wonderful bacchanal event.
