Divas, both big and small (and fluffy and slim) congregated at the Guyana National Stadium for Conscious Minds’ “November to Remember 2 – Night of the Divas” concert last Saturday, November 17, 2012.
I understand that with November being the month to raise awareness for Domestic Violence, head of Conscious Minds thought it wise and timely to hold an event showcasing Caribbean Dancehall & Soca Divas. However, he neglected to include his own Guyanese divas but I guess we’ll discuss that later, first let me tell you about the show.
The show was hosted by Lisa Punch and Mondale Smith. Lisa, though not slated to perform opened up with a song (a song the DJ took forever to find) before she introduced the first act of the evening. Rags up! Flags up! If you’re not a soca loving diva then you would really find it hard to appreciate Destra Garcia’s music. Bringing the revelry and excitement of Carnival, Destra took us from hits to hits of her sweet sweet soca music. Many of the stiletto wearers decided to forego their ridiculous heels for flats to jump and frolic around to hits such as Max It Up, In D Air, Carnival, Jumpin’ and many more. She had patrons moving from one side of the stadium to the other. She even called a young lady from the crowd to represent for the Guyanese ladies. No one from the VIP opted to represent so a very willing young girl from General jumped the barricade to join Destra on stage. Her jumping did not go in vain because she surely didn’t disappoint.
In the middle of her performance Destra introduced on stage with her another one of Trinidad’s soca sensations, Denise ‘Saucy Wow’ Belfon. Saucy wasted no time in getting down to business and displaying her agility as she did the bicycle and many other gyrations. She even schooled the divas on what to do to their men when they got home, I hope many took notes. Saucy Wow’s energetic performance featured hits such as “Saucy Baby” and one of the best impersonations of Tina Turner’s song, “Private Dancer”. Destra got back on stage and the soca duo performed “Obsessive Winers” together before Destra finished off her performance and culminated the soca aspect of the show. Yes, I can tell you that many persons were dripping at the end of all that wining.
From Trinidad to Jamaica, from soca to dancehall, from the revelry of Carnival to stimulating social commentary, from the soca queen to the dancehall queen, from Destra to Tanya Stephens. The ladies (and surprisingly some men) all rushed to the front of the stage to get a little closer to Tanya. Women respect Tanya because they can relate to each and every one of her songs, some of the few she shared included “Yuh Nuh Ready Fi Dis Yet”, “Tek Him Back”, “Boom Wuk”, “It’s a Pity”, “What a Day”, “Good Ride”, “These Streets” and many more. A for Amazing Tanya!
The show got a little hyper when dancehall diva Spice came on stage, the very vulgar Ms. Jim Screechie , who looked much better in her outfit last night then the clown suit she wore in August belted out the few tracks she has and then invited fluffy Pamputae on stage with her. Pamputae might be fluffy but she can move thus her recent single Slim vs. Fluffy which she sang with help from Spice and two girls, one fluffy and one slim from the crowd. The fluffy girl outdid the slim girl just like the song says. LOL. Pamputae ended her performance with her signature “Pat Yuh Pu$$y” and left Spice on stage who did an amazing but very raw rendition of the Power of Love.
The last diva to grace the stage was the Queen of Dancehall, the one, the only Lady Saw who got right down to business by taking off her heels and belting out hits such as “If Him Lef”, “Woman Mi Name”, “Sycamore Tree”, “Gal No Worry”, “Wife a Wife”, “Hardcore (It’s Raining)”, “It’s a Pity”, “Push
Over” and concluded with her very recent “Heels On”.
The show was an epic one I must say. Kudos to the Divas!
But I would have really liked to have at least two Guyanese divas on stage maybe Timeka Marshall & Jackie Hanover (sticking to the dancehall genre) and one last thing before I go, why was the show so scarcely attended?
Click to view album –> November to Remember 2 – Night of Divas