On August 18, 2012, Jamzone Summer Break officially got underway with the staging of the Chutney Night Super Concert at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence.
The first event on the Jamzone 2012 calendar featured over twenty artistes from across the Caribbean, Ashnie Singh and the 2Famous group from Holland and a stellar headlining performance by the Caribbean’s #1 cross over band Karma.
The show though poorly attended (when compared to other Chutney concerts over the years) got off to an early start and ran smoothly without any obvious glitches. It was hosted by local comedian Chow Pow and television personality WR Reaz. The talented performers took the patrons on a musical passage from chutney to soca to dancehall and even hip hop, at times.
Guyana’s own Shakti Strings did a great job in hyping the crowd from the very inception. The band sang everything imaginable. They made way for Sexy Vanessa who came out to entice the men folk with her skimpy outfit and sensual moves. She invited WR Reaz on stage to dance with her and after exchanging a few words, she told the crowd that he had a lot of mouth and that she had a gift for him. She then went on to hand him something wrapped, after opening it we all saw that it was a very big lollipop. “Now he has something to do with all that mouth he has”, she said. Ha!
Rick Ramoutar was accompanied by the Dance Fanatics dance group as he did his performance. The tassa drummers also made an appearance. Terry Gajraj after his performance received an award from the Hits and Jams Entertainment Group for his contribution towards music in Guyana. Chris Garcia took to the stage and began his performance with a rendition of ‘No Woman No Cry’ before singing the song that made him famous ‘Chutney Bacchanal.’
It was after his performance that WR Reaz came back on stage with a complete wardrobe change, he definitely looks at too much television. It would have been nice of him to send Chow Pow the memo though. LOL.
D Hitman and Anil Bheem and the BMRZ band did not disappoint their fans. Ashnie Singh and the 2Famous group from Holland were another story. I’m certain some persons enjoyed their performances; however, those around me were very eager for them to come off the stage. One of the guys in the 2Famous group is not Indian but he sang in Hindi; that was impressive. That is all! It was great of Hits and Jams to bring them all the way from Holland though.
De Hunter and Karma Band ended the show and brought back the hype and excitement that died when Ashnie came on. Ravi B and Nisha B were their usual fun and energetic selves. No doubt, patrons at the Chutney Night Super Concert had a damn good time!
Kudos to Hits and Jams for the set up of the VIP area, however I hope the space at the front of the stage is looked at and expanded for the other shows, it just seemed a bit congested at the front. This is taking into consideration that the crowds at the Regional Night and International Night Super Concerts might be larger. Free drinks and food are wise, but not when the drinks are finished half way through the show. Something has to be done about that. I absolutely loved that the artistes were not strangers in the VIP area.
For instance, I was standing behind this guy and though that his outfit was very different – he was wearing yellow jeans, a white shirt and a yellow waistcoat . He was standing there like all the other persons in VIP, it wasn’t until he got on stage that I realized he was Terry Gajraj! Also, I saw these two guys walking around wearing the same shirt and I thought it cute but I also thought that they were too big for that until Karma’s band starting to sound check then I realised that the guys were a part of the band.
I can’t wait for the other Jamzone 2012 events! Visit Jamzone Summer Break 2012 for a comprehensive list of all the events to come.