Month: March 2010

If one assesses the Mash KIK Tour it would best be dubbed a well planned and organized event which probably came from the proven event management abilities of the Wildfire productions group. They offered a good example of what should be done to please patrons as an example to other budding promoters.

Security seemed one of the group’s highest priorities, and the music systems, lights, and other things were well in place.

However, as agreed by group head, Jonathan Beeepat, the crowd support was not as they had hoped or anticipated for.

Patrons who attended the Linden show obviously had a blast but the crowd support was poor. However, the Berbice show was well attended to the point that Beepat confidently said “Berbice will definitely see more of Wildfire Productions events”.

Konshens, his young apprentice, Darrio, and the Konshens Movement were an amazing group to work with, Beepat said. He also noted that of the many artistes his group has brought to the local shores none have been more fun, professional, and easy to work with than them.

In Beepat’s assessment, “Konshens is on his way to being one of the biggest names in dancehall/reggae music industry and the amazing part of it is his humbleness.”

He said that from experience many artistes talk about being humble and down to earth, but Konshens lives the talk.

In Linden, there was some rumours that the show was cancelled. Konshens was notified and  joined in doing all necessary to dispel the rumour through PA and TV programmes.

This happened even though he needed rest coming from a club show the night before.  He threw on his white vest, cut jeans, sneakers, grabbed a Mackeson and was ready to go on the road.

On the road, Konshens was out walking alongside the PA truck, signing autographs, giving away promotional CD’s, taking pictures, hugging the ladies, and just working the road all around Linden.

In Berbice, Konshens did not miss the opportunity to be part of the Mash celebrations as he also walked the road interacting with the crowd and stopping at each sound system to give the people a sample of his voice. The ladies were crazy for the artistes to talk to them.

Crowds continually flocked to the Wildfire team to the point that what started out as 12 of became an entourage of hundreds following the artistes while he walked throughout Main Street, Berbice.

Beepat said his team “had a great experience with Konshens, and we will be working with him again in the future”.

His team was privy to be behind the scenes and to get to know some of the plans of the Konshens movement and listen to tunes which aren’t even released as yet and the collective sentiments are that his music is what dancehall needs.

It is safe to state that his gritty vocals, blended with some of the hottest dancehall beats, and covered with the message he puts in his music are among the ingredients that makes him truly the next big thing.

Konshens is always conscious of what he wants his youthful followers to hear, and he lets people feel the good vibes message in a style which that they all can relate to.

The Wildfire show was sponsored by Mackeson and Giftland Officemax with much gratitude to Miguel of the Konshens Movement.

Beepat cognisant that Georgetown was left out of the Konshens tour experience promises that “Georgetown can expect to see him, and when he comes again, Guyana will be mesmerized!”

By Mondale Smith

The place to be  tomorrow   especially if you are talented  youth aged  4-14 is at the Theatre Guild  , Kingston for a chance to show case  your talent and possibly win some cash in the Cellink KidStage talent competition. The fourth preliminary round of the Cellink KidStage was boosted last week when eleven contestants made it through to the quarter finals.

Moving on to the 2nd quarter finals are from last week’s competition are Alphius Bookie, Jeremiah Williams, Navendra Singh, Maria Collymore, Akeeda Whaul, Tamara Innis, Steffon Ageda and Dexter Nelson.

“I feel excited, overwhelmed and motivated that I am selected in the top 10”, noted Whaul who believes that KidStage has so far caused her to realize her dreams in the Arts. Ultimately like all the other contestants she desires to move higher in her vocals and thus encourages all children to be part of this “dream-realizing programme”.

Weekly successful participants move on from auditions to preliminaries and out of the February 27 auditions six lucky contestants, were favoured by the judges including Amanda David, Alliah Corlette, Aaliyah Rosheuvd, Kyle Archer, Melissa Benjamin and Tiffany McAlmont. This bunch will be on show on tomorrow, March 6, at the theatre Guild, Kingston.
Meanwhile performances last Saturday were hype and stirred the audience to thunderous applauses as Andre Duesbury dominated through his sterling performance and song “Teacher, Teacher”, which presents the teachers’ plight of working hard, ring a bell, work overtime in the fields, yet “no big money”. Being the crowd’s favourite, Duesbury felt flabbergasted that at 8-years-old, he is already a “Guyanese star”.
Caption: Budding star Andre Duesbury delivering the sterling Teacher, teacher

By Mondale Smith

Jamaican Dancehall icon, Baby Cham, and Anthony B were the two major acts carded to perform at the Mash Explosion concert but that never materialized much to the disappointment of fans.

Much confusion followed as irate fans looted the bar and broke up a sound system. The promoter Nigel Harding has since issued an apology and promised that the artistes will be performing at a free show sometime in the not too distant future.

While none of the artistes’ camps have confirmed this statement Baby Cham has sent an apology to his Guyanese fan base for his non-performance at the National Park on Saturday February 27.

The artiste and his team left Guyana disappointed and said that this happened “after the promoter, Seven Star Entertainment, failed to meet obligations”.

Cham explained, “We always honour and respect our fans and unfortunately a number of requirements were not in place; certain obligations were not met by the promoter and we were not able to make it to the venue to perform for the fans.”

Apologizing for the unfortunate situation, Khorie Ann Robb, Public Relations Manager of Headline Entertainment, a booking agent, noted,  “Our non-appearance was in no way due to our fault …we were present and ready to work. The promoter failed to handle the situation the way he should have and as such we had to leave the country without performing.”

The artiste is anticipating a return to the country to perform for the people as Guyana still remains one of his favourite markets.

By Mondale Smith

…says negotiation underway with artiste to hold free show

Nigel Harding the promoter of the botched Mash Explosion which saw angry patrons demolishing $$M in audio equipment is issuing a public apology to the patrons for what he called a delay in getting the artistes to the National Park.

The delay was caused by late payment to the artistes Anthony B and Baby Cham who did reach the venue at about 02:00hrs

Harding conceded that the artistes were supposed to take the stage at 12:00 but because of the nonpayment this did not happen until 02:00hrs when Anthony B attempted to calm the crowd but the audio system had already been damaged and the microphone was not working.

He added also that the owners of the audio equipment have been compensated however this newspaper understands that only a promise has been made thus far.

As it relates to his rendezvous at the Alberttown Police Station Harding said that he was invited by the police and thought it best to meet there after the owners of the equipment that was damaged had lodged a complaint and he was unsure as to the level of hostility against them.

He said that contrary to rumours there were no threats on his life.

At the beginning of the show there were no signs of worries as local artistes performed but the extended music on speakers by DJ’s brought on suspicions.

When it was realised that the headline acts would be a no show the angry patrons began to ransack the bars claiming that they had to get their money’s worth but it did not end there.

The angry patrons amidst a hail of bottles began damaging the audio equipment including speakers and band equipment among other items.

However, according to a reliable source, the ruckus started just as the artistes were about to appear on stage having worked out a financial arrangement with the promoter.

It is unclear if anyone was arrested as gunshots could be heard ringing out in the air with police at their wits end to restore order.

Sources within the Vizion Sounds promotion Inc. distanced themselves from what triggered the chaos, pointing out that they were merely hired by Harding of ‘7 Star Entertainment’ to help promote the show and were not responsible for the payment to the artistes.

By Gary Eleazar