By Teino Evans, Staff Reporter
The combination of paint and water ensured that the annual Beach J'ouvert was one wild affair. - Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer
THERE WAS plenty of everything last Saturday, when Smirnoff Ice and Bacchanal Jamaica staged their annual Beach J'ouvert at the James Bond Beach in Oracabessa, St. Mary.
There was no way that Beach J'ouvert could go wrong and it didn't.
There was paint, wetness, give-aways, liquor (provided as part of the all-inclusive package), the finest tunes from Omar C and Bobby Wong of the Sparkles Disco, and MC Abe Barracot holding the vibes steady. The end result a whole lot of partying.
The Sparkles Disco had the vast crowd on the James Bond Beach jumping and gyrating to some soca favourites such as It's Carnival and Tempted to Touch from as early as 1:00 p.m. However, those who were tired of dancing and 'wining', listened keenly to Abe, as he called out the names on tags that the patrons received upon entering the venue.
"The first two couples with the name Ben and Jen who reach the side stage will win a prize," Abe announced, as patrons dashed towards the give-away booth in the hope of being first to win a Smirnoff Ice shirt. There were many other give-aways throughout the day, including felt hats, key rings, lunch bags and much more from the sponsors.
At about 6:00 p.m., when the spray hose and the paint came out, patrons went haywire, as they took it upon themselves to soak each other with water and then later doused everyone with paint. Within minutes persons could hardly recognise each other.
After all that excitement, when patrons may have been expecting to unwind, it was time for the main
attraction, the Atlantic Band featuring Destra, Terry and Burton.
The group gave more than an hour of an energy-filled performance, doing tunes like Smoke, It's Carnival and Soca Train.
At 8:00 p.m. Rupee was called on stage and he added more vibes and excitement, delivering in his set the all-time favourite Tempted To Touch.
Then as a bonus Machel Montano and other members of the Xtatic band took the stage. They weren't billed for the event but that didn't prevent them from moving the energy level up even more.
After Xtatic's 'destruction of the venue', the Atlantic band, along with their lead singers, then returned to round off the evening's performances.
The soca lovers who turned out for this year's event staggered through the exit after 10:00 p.m. after a day of excitement on the beach.
