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Carifesta X Gospel Mega Concert

It is widely speculated in some sections of society that Christians are not fun loving people; some even go to the extreme as to even say boring. But if one were to be present at the super concert held on Thursday August 28th at the National Stadium Providence those perceptions about the Christian community would have been shattered.

This historic concert was a spectacular display of talent which can be found within the Christian community. This concert was historic in the sense that this was the first time since the inaugural Carifesta held here in Guyana 36 years ago that the religious community has been invited to play a critical role in the festival. It was also the biggest gospel concert in Guyana to date as well as the biggest super concert to date that has been held at the National Stadium. The composition of those in attendance was also a sight to behold since it brought out the ethnic diversity in our Guyanese society as represented through the Christian community. Though there were persons of various ages present the majority present, at least for the evening segment, were young people.

The organizers sought to provide a spot in their program for various age groups. As a result of this persons with young children were encouraged to come out during the afternoon hours. The event started at 4pm with booths displaying fashionable yet modest pieces of clothing for the entire family. There were also booths set up by the various artiest slated to perform in the evening with their cd’s and dvd’s on sale. For the children there were rides erected outside the ground to keep them busy and having a fun time.

In the evening the program was packed with items from both local and regional gospel artiest. The MC of the event was shared by Pastor Marlon Hestic and Michella Adraham-Ali. The first of the evening’s performances included songs by persons representing the mining town of Linden and the nationally acclaimed Dominion dancers. The Minister of Culture Youth and Sport Dr. Frank Anthony addressed the crowd and expressed satisfaction at the large gathering and declared the event a landmark event in the history of Carifesta and as “the largest gospel concert in the history of Guyana”.

Following the address by the Minister the large crowd was presented with steel pan music from a combined church steel orchestra. Despite their best efforts, the sweet music of the steel pan could only be herd by those in the very front of the venue or on stage.

H.E. President Bharrat Jagdeo addressed the over 20,000 strong gathering and expressed delight at the energy emanating from the venue even jokingly stating “we have enough energy in this place to power Guyana for two years without GPL”. The president even quoted a passage of scripture from Psalm 133, much to the delight of the massive gathering.

After the president’s address it was time for the singers to take to the stage and get the crowd going. Local favorites such as Cherlyn Maloney and Sean Sobers from Linden started things off with songs that got the crowd going wild with excitement. There was also an interesting dramatic piece from the members of the Tuckville Assemblies of God Church. The aim of the skit was non discrimination despite the outward appearance of a individual.

The man from Jamaica took to the stage to the loud cheers of his fans. Yes Prodigal Son sang some of his best known reggae styled gospel music which the young people responded to with energetic flag waving and even jumping and screaming throughout his performance.

The energy remained with the crowd throughout the rest of the performances. An energized Eddie Neblette took to the stage to bring the curtains down on the performances for the evening with hits such as “wrong decision” and “love and unity”. Despite the fact that other local acts scheduled for the event did not get to perform because of time constraints, this concert will dwell in the minds of Guyanese as one of the biggest ever super concerts of this Carifesta.

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Banks Super Concert

On August 23rd 2008 Banks DIH held a Super Concert at the National Stadium as part of the CARIFESTA X celebrations. Crowds poured in from all parts of Guyana and other parts of the Caribbean to witness performances by local and world famous artistes.

Our very own Illaman started the live performances with some of his upcoming hits. Then one of Brutal Tracks’ greater performers, Alabama, stunned the audience with his well appreciated song “Dem don’t care” and others that the persons in attendance weren’t so familiar with. The crowd then rocked to the sweet sounds of World Famous First Born with their tracks such as “Irits”, “Got we own style”, and “How are we going to survive”, just to name a few. After enjoying a few minutes of First Born’s talent the multitude was then laughing to the comical lyrics of Dave Martin and the Trade Winds. After more than thirty minutes of amusing entertainment the highly anticipated soca singer from Barbados, Biggie Irie came on stage to get the crowd moving their waists. Biggie Irie is best known for his smash single “We nah goin home” and he thrilled the masses with his voice and musical antics. He also gave tribute to fellow Barbadian Peter Ram and Jamaican Taurus Riley for their influence on the music industry by singing their current hits. Eventually, Barbadian super star Rupee, teased the mob with excerpts from his hits before making his way to the stage in front of thousands of screaming fans. Rupee enticed persons in attendance with a great list of songs that filled the air with peace, love, harmony and fun. The ladies were going crazy at several intervals and some even managed to get on stage despite attempts by security to control them. The soca super start however soaked up every minute of it and encouraged fans to be safe and enjoy life to its fullest. After a short intermission the level of excitement peaked as the MC announced the next artiste, Mr. Vegas. The noises from the crowds were so loud those at the back could hardly hear Mr. Vegas voice as he performed songs like “Daggerin” and “Hot wuk”. He even got the fans involved by having a small dancing competition on stage between a few ladies. The masses gave their approvals as the ladies showed what they have and Mr. Vegas was enjoying every moment of it.

The event came to halt around 3:00am and as fans left they expressed their views on the evening’s activities. The number of persons in attendance was estimated at 10,000 but some sources say much more. Rupee had visited Guyana before and was asked to return soon to entertain us again. Biggie Irie made his first appearance here but Mr. Vegas has graced us with his presence once before. Rumors have it that the Banks Super Concert is the biggest and best of all for the CARIFESTA X period.

By Patrice Wishart

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Wildfire Production Presents – Wild Fire Fest 2K8 (1st Anniversary Celebration)

Wild Fire Fest 2k8 is about to kickoff and the preparations are on fire! The artists will be in the country as of Friday July 25th and there are a few events where party fans can get a glimpse of their favorite artists before the Wild Fire Fest 2k8. First off, everyone can see the artists live via NCN ch 11 on Friday July 25th at 9 pm and simultaneous broadcast via 98.1 hot fm radio. They will be at the Black and White party which will be held at Palm Court. This is invitational BUT patrons can get access simply by wearing a Black and white outfit and paying the entrance fee. However, they must fulfill both requirements.

Interviews will be done, as well as autograph signing, and picture opportunities. Then during the day segment of the Wild Fire Fest 2k8 the artists will be in and out of the National Stadium to hype and interact with the crowd. The Wild Fire Fest 2k8 kicks off officially at 12pm Saturday July 26th 2008 and entertainment starts then. Then from 2pm to 5pm kids can get to see Spongebob Squarepants and Dora the Explorer perform every hour! These characters comes with the compliments of Tons of Fun Entertainment company.

They will also have a fun station set up with standees of WWE characters such as Rey Mysterio, John Cena and others which kids can take pictures with. In between performances the crowd will be entertained by popular sound systems, Emcees Mr Chow Pow, Malcolm Ferreira, Shurwayne Winchester, Serani, Ce’cile and others! These intermittent performances will only be short interactions and not the actual performance that the artists will be doing in the evening segment. Lucky persons will also be able to meet these artist throughout the day at the National Stadium. The official after party will be at the Stadium View Bar with special guests from the Wild Fire Fest 2k8. The live performance segment of the Wild Fire Fest 2k8 will begin at 6:30 pm SHARP and this will have to start on time as there are quite a number of artists who will give quality performances. So if you don’t want to miss out on any of the action, make sure you are in the ground by 6 pm for the evening performances. Children under 12 are free, adults are $3,000, and limited VIP’s are $20,000. VIP Tickets are available at Nanda’s Boutique and the first 100 persons can get a 10% discount on their purchase when they buy a VIP as well as a FREE invitation to the Black and White Party. The VIP ticket allows parking inside of the stadium parking lot and the entrance will be the southern gate of the National Stadium. The northern gate will be the general entrance. The VIP area is around the stage and the tickets also entitles the holder to free drinks, free finger foods and seating. However the VIP bar and service is not open until 6pm. All patrons, except children, will be given special security Wildfire wristbands which is durable even in water and will allow access in and out of the National Stadium throughout the day.

Tickets are available at Upper Level Barber Shop, Nanda’s Boutique, Nigel’s Supermarket, JR Burgers, Matt’s Record Bar, White Castle Fish Shop, and Stadium View. Early bird tickets are already sold out and limited VIP’s are available Nigel’s Supermarket, Gifltand Officemax, Nanda’s Boutique, and Upper Level Barber Shop. We would like to extend thanks to our sponsor F&H Printing for their support in all our activities.

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Ignition Concert Post Report -WildFire

As we have just concluded our IGNITION CONCERT for 2008 we would like to give an official statement about the event and some of the occurrences at the end of the show. As the production company controlling this event we accept and take blame that there was some disorder during the main and final act Bounty Killer due to the sound & light company technical difficulties. We wish to clarify what happened and make it clear as to why things unfolded the way they did.

There are international news stories that have reported incorrectly based on a certain newspaper’s spin on the concert. We are not saying that there wasn’t a problem that caused a chain reaction of events, but there needs to be some clarity as to what happened since the reporter was very inadequate in doing her job. She has made statements quoting from us when she has never officially spoken to any representative from Wildfire Productions.
First of all there were no major problems for the night until the sound & light company had severe problems with their equipment. This happened about 20 minutes into Bounty Killer’s performance. The entire sound and lights shut down due to negligence on their part. Bounty Killer showed extreme patience and sat on the stage and waited for the power to return. It came on again for approximately 10 minutes which Bounty hyped the crowd only for the sound company to lose power again. Bounty, unlike his usual self, sat down on the stage again to show the Guyanese people that he had no intention of giving a short performance nor intended to leave. When the sound was back up again Bounty apologized for them and asked the people to please be patient and that these things happen. The crowd was with Bounty all the way, but then the sound went down for a third time. At this time it was 2:05 a.m. and the police said it was cut off time as they did not see the sound getting back up again efficiently. At this time Bounty was instructed to leave the stage, and this upset the patrons there as they wanted more of Bounty Killer. This frustration led to bottles being hurled at the stage in protest of Bounty coming off prematurely. One newspaper made it appear that bottles were thrown at Bounty Killer because of his lyrics and performance but this was not the case. As we can report the bottles were hurled as a result of the power outage from the sound system so many times, and for the fact that people did not get to see the main act Bounty Killer which they wanted to see.

As there was no power for the emcee to call for order on the mic, the police took matters into their hands and fired off some warning shots to disperse the crowd and to stop the bottle throwing before someone got hurt. This worked effectively as the bottles stopped immediately and the crowd exited the venue. People left safely as there were no reports from the hospital of injuries the next day.

While the problems that were encountered are not the direct fault of Wildfire Productions we do accept some amount of responsibility. We understand that we need to be more stringent with our suppliers such as the sound & light company since they have caused us much embarrassment and potential danger for not being efficient with their equipment. Also, the bar service that were serving beverages deterred from our agreement and sold them from the bottles instead of plastic cups. This was totally unacceptable and they too had endangered persons there. However, as this has already happened we can only implement a more strict and severe penalty clause on suppliers who do not work efficiently and accordingly to our instructions.

We would like to thank the thousands of fans who came out to the Ignition Concert and as reports had it, they enjoyed themselves thoroughly with the exception of the ending part of the show. We once again apologize for the chain reaction of events that occurred and will work harder to ensure that it doesn’t repeat itself.

Wildfire Production Team