A musical buffet for the Sweet 16 St. Kitts Music Festival

Nicha B

ZIZ Newsroom, Basseterre, St. Kitts…July 2, 2012 — A diverse line-up of musical artistes filled with spectacular performances and memorable moments have made The Sixteenth Annual St. Kitts Music Festival an event to remember.

The festivities kicked off with a bang on Thursday night as national and regional artists took to the stage for soca night.

The evening began with the Spectrum Band out of the USVI followed by Edwin Yearwood and Krosfyah from Barbados.

Limitless LP who performed a brief tribute to the late Masud Sadiki were the first national acts to hit the SKMF stage. The band then provided back up for local sensation Nicha B, who used a full entourage of performers to put on a dynamic stage show.

Ali Dee and Shakki Starfire stormed the stage showing that the women can light up the crowd as well as the men.

Machel Montano

Multiple Road March winners, the Grand Masters band was next on stage belting out a mix of their hits and cover tunes including a saxophone solo of Adele’s “Someone Like You”.

Machel Montano HD wrapped up the night in typical high energy style, bringing down the curtains on the first night of this year’s music festival.

With his nearly 3 hour performance he sent the crowd home exhausted and begging for more at around 4 am.

On Friday, dancehall and reggae artistes left it all on the stage when they performed on night two of the Sweet Sixteen Edition of the St. Kitts Music Festival.

One of the pioneers of reggae music, Lovindeer, got the show rolling by taking fans back in time with a number of old school hits including ‘Don’t Bend Over’ And ‘Wild Gilbert’.

He was followed by another reggae heavyweight, Eric Donaldson.

Morgan Heritage

The audience was then treated to the sweet rendition of jazz music from none other than the UK’s Courtney Pine.

Artistes from Jamaica then took the spotlight.

New reggae sensation, I-Octane got most of the fans off their feet and jumping to his music. He also made the night very special for one lucky lady who he sung several songs to including the popular “L.O.V.E. Y.O.U” and ended it with a kiss on the cheek.

Morgan Heritage graced the music festival stage for the third time rendering what has been described as one of the best performances of the night.

They were followed by teen dancehall sensation Popcaan who changed the tempo of the night with his songs ‘Ravin’, ‘Fake Friend’, ‘Only Man She Want’, ‘Dem Sell We Out’ and the hit song ‘Party Shot’.

The night climaxed with the headliner, Damian ‘Jr. Gong’ Marley who was performing for the first time in St. Kitts.

Damian Marley

Jr. Gong has been dubbed the most anticipated artiste for the festival and he did not disappoint. He sang hit after hit from his earlier days; to songs from his “Distant Relatives” collaboration with American Rapper Nas; to his latest solo tunes.

These included ‘Beautiful’, ‘Move’, ‘Ambition’, ‘Road To Zion’, ‘Affairs Of The Heart’ and rendition of his fathers’ song ‘Could You Be Loved’.

Finally on Saturday, four major acts took the stage at Warner Park to close out the Sweet 16 St. Kitts Music Festival. Each performance was well received by the eager audience who came to enjoy what might be dubbed ‘International Night’.

Bruce Skerritt and the Liamigua Project opened the show to a relatively small crowd performing original and cover tunes.

Their performance featured Trinidad and Tobago steel pan player Duvon Stewart who was set centre stage and led most of the renditions.

Toni Braxton

Roberta Flack then performed centre stage with her grand piano. She kept interacting with the audience between smooth vocal performances of her hit songs.

6-time Grammy Award Winner, Toni Braxton stepped on stage and her presence drew patrons closer to the stage.

The audience screamed, shouted and sang along with the singer as she belted out tunes like ‘Unbreak My Heart’ and ‘He Wasn’t Man Enough For Me’.

R&B recording artiste Omarion closed out the show with a performance filled with surprises. He was accompanied by a female DJ who shocked the audience when she played the song ‘Soap Drop’ by Small Axe Band. Omarion then called ladies on stage to dance to the local tune.

Omarion ended his performance by popping a bottle of champagne in honour of the festival, closing the curtains until next year.